Legacy of Legends 3
by Viperwatcher
Summary: The sequel to Legacy of Legends 2. The mysteries have cleared but at a cost no one ever expected. Zaze, the Electric Dragon, is no more. Instead, he is now faced with his new identity, and is now forced to live a life with the consequences of his actions that continue to haunt him. IN PROGRESS R&R PLEASE UPDATES WEEKLY
1. Chapter 1 Bad Dream

**HEY THERE EVERYBODY! I AM ALIVE!**

**I know. This took FOREVER. It's like Valve trying to make Half Life 3. It nearly went into vaporware! But the good news, it's here! Right before your very eyes. Legacy of Legends 3 CONFIRMED and is POSTED. YES! But due to my FIVE month absence (longest I've ever been gone. Last time it was just three), I feel the need to explain myself.**

This story has went through NUMEROUS rewrites and along the way, I NEARLY gave up on it. It's like my curse of not being able to write up to three was definitely trying it's best to remain true. But in the end, I persevered and pulled through. With the aid of my two co-writers, we managed to make what you guys will be reading now.

The main reason why this story took so long to be posted are mainly because of the following:

One, I kind of procrastinated on it. I'm only human after all. I get distracted too with other things.

Two, my school life decided to kick things up a bit. I'm in my last year in college. That means I have to deal with a thesis and that is a very big problem that has to be tackled head on. So that took a considerable chunk of time.

And lastly, it was the story itself really. When I first made Legacy of Legends, I had a general scope of things. I had this idea, this character that had this mysterious past and the story revolved around him and that past. When Zaze's secret got out of the bag, it was a bit hard to think of what happens next. All I had going for me were these loose social arcs that needed to be fully resolved. After a long time, rewrite after rewrite that I've already lost count, I and the team decided to just make the plot simple. After all, that was how LoL started anyway. It wasn't the story that made it shine. It was the colorful cast of characters. So this time, we approached from a different point of view. How would other dragons see them? Especially with how things ended in LoL 2. And that's how LoL 3 starts. How everyone copes with the new developments. Specifically Zaze seeing as Latis died because of him. WHOOPS. Spoiler alert?

I can only hope you guys like what we've made so far.

**Don't forget: I FEED OFF REVIEWS! WITHOUT IT I DIE!**

Well enough chit-chat from me. I think it's time I let you guys read the story for yourselves. But before that, here's a primer for you all. A refresher on the story so far. Feel free to skip it, if you feel like it. 

**Summary of Legacy of Legends**

After the events of the incident at the volcano, Spyro and Cynder find themselves resting, glad to be alive. Deciding that they should get back to Warfang, they do so; however, night falls and they are forced to make a stop, making a campsite at the very place they were at before, with Hunter the Cheetah. This in turn, led them to meeting Zaze, an energetic, cheerful, friendly dragon that had the case of amnesia. Introductions were done, and soon after, Zaze was giving his purple friend advice on how to make his feelings known to his partner.

The next day, they arrive at Warfang, where they were greeted by the three remaining Guardians, along with Sparx the Dragonfly. Excitement soon stirred as the rekindling of hope appears in the form of Zaze. Apparently he was the first dragon they had seen, aside from themselves. The Guardians immediately call upon Hunter to aide them in finding the others.

One week later, Zaze and Cynder happen to make a bet, wherein if Hunter were to appear, bearing good news, the latter were to kiss Spyro. It ends in the favor of Zaze, as the cheetah appears bearing good news for all of them. As Cynder contemplated on how to accomplish her task, Hunter shares with them his findings. The Guardians are surprised to find that many dragons actually survived the war against the Dark Master. This in turn led them to planning a party; a celebration of sorts to welcome the new age of peace. As they get busy, Cynder leads Spyro away to do her consequence. Sparx and Zaze on the other hand talk with each other, the former informing the latter of the dragonfly's relationship with the purple dragon. Braving herself, Cynder attempts to spill her feelings to Spyro, but is interrupted when the purple dragon sees the new comers, flying from the distance.

Cynder stops and decides to just wait for her next chance, as greeting the newcomers was more important. This leads them to meet Pyre, a childhood friend of the Guardians, and somewhat acting leader of the colony that arrived. Later, Zaze finds himself alone and headed to the library. Coincidentally, Volteer was also there. However, Zaze happens to find the Guardian, crying, much to his surprise. Volteer later opens up to Zaze. It would seem that Pyre's mate, Flame's mother, was Volteer's ex. They had history. However, due to him being a Guardian candidate, he was forced to end the relationship. Now, he has resigned himself to no longer put himself out there, in fear of feeling the dread of losing someone. Zaze however puts him out of his depression, and helps the Guardian in gaining confidence. The two develop a close friendship. A little later on, Zaze finds his room messed up completely. He suspects and plans to confront a certain black dragoness about it, at the party later that night.

Much to his surprise however, Zaze was wrong with his hunch. It would seem that Cynder wasn't the one that had messed up his room, as she confirms it at the party. Zaze rethinks his hunch, as Flame steps in, claiming that Zaze and Cynder were together. Crushing the claim down, Cynder asks the red dragon if he has seen the purple dragon. Flame replies that he was last seen with a companion of his, by the name of Ember.

Cynder leaves, looking rather pissed. Flame and Zaze talk, the latter finding out that Pyre seems to want to have Flame find someone 'special'. The two slowly start to develop a good friendship. On the other side of things, Spyro and Ember are chatting and having an all around good time. However things take a turn to the interesting when the latter has a rather odd request. Ember asks Spyro for him to kiss her.

The next day, Zaze wakes up to find more clues in regards who messed up his room: dirt; with nothing much to go on, he proceeds onward with his day. He even sees Pyre leaving, off to find other surviving dragons. At the other side, Sparx is in for a shocker. Sparx, who has finally decided to let go of his indifference to Cynder, is surprised to hear that Spyro had kissed Ember. The dragoness had witnessed this herself and is now trying to dissect the situation.

Moving forward. Zaze and Flame later find some time to chat, with the latter wondering who they'll be learning under, since Ignitus was no longer around. The topic slowly drifts to Ember, where Flame accidentally spills the beans on him liking the dragoness. But due to certain circumstances, he is unable to be with her. Zaze decides to ask why. Meanwhile, Cynder decides to brave herself and confront Spyro, and ask him if he was in a relationship with Ember, due to the kiss she had seen.

Moving back, Flame tells Zaze the reason. Apparently, he believes that Ember has her sights on Spyro, missing him completely. As the latter comforts him by giving advice, they head into the Guardians' Room to find out that there is a competition being held, and the winner will be heralded as the new Fire Guardian. The two immediately head over to see the spectacle. However, they arrive rather late and miss the event altogether. Heading back, they bump into Ember who tells a piece of shocking news. Apparently, Flare, the victor of the competition thus will be the new Guardian, is a she.

Back with Cynder, the confrontation went rather smoothly and things went well. The two soon find out that they've been harbouring feelings from each other, and it just flowed like a river from there. There mate status is sealed with a kiss. As things went fine there, it also is also the same for Volteer. Apparently, Flare was an old companion of his from his distant past. The two take time to catch up with each other.

Going to Zaze and Flame, the former, wanting to help the latter, decides to prove a point. Wanting to prove that Spyro isn't who Ember was looking for, Zaze decides to take her on a date. Much to Flame's surprise, she accepts; point proven.

Terrador and Sparx on the other hand were chatting when the latter wonders how Terrador seems to know Flare. Terrador proceeds to clarify. All the stuff he knew came from Volteer. Apparently the two, Volteer and Flare, used to be partners. Guardian candidates were occasionally sent to do missions, ranging from simple delivery missions to rather complex and not to mention dangerous ones. Terrador was strong enough to hold his own ground, unlike Volteer. The chatting ends as the two parted. Sparx is later joined by Spyro and Zaze. The two are somewhat surprised to find Zaze "hanging out" with Ember, which Sparx translated to as "having a date" with her. The two give him their good lucks. As Zaze leaves, Spyro unwittingly spills the beans onto Sparx. The dragonfly soon finds out that the purple dragon has finally someone.

Ember wasn't fairing the same way however. Zaze breaks to her the news that he came to "hang out" and not to go on a date. Sad, but true; Zaze then decides to ask her if she had a thing for Spyro, his main motive for doing the meet up in the first place. Things get clarified as she states that he likes Spyro, yes, but not in a romantic sense. Zaze then decides to ask his next main question, and that was if she liked Flame. She replies rather vaguely, to which Zaze decides to push, stating to her that Flame actually liked her. However, before he could finish his sentence, a sudden and quite abrupt headache attack washes over him, making him lose consciousness on the spot.

He wakes up some time later, to find himself in a place none other than the Chronicler's Lair, at White Isle. There he is greeted by the new Chronicler, Ignitus. He is told that he has book dedicated to his life, same as everyone else. A thought comes across his mind. He asks if he may read his book, to read about his past life, thus solving his amnesia. He is turned down however, as only the Chronicler has the ability to read the books. He isn't allowed to tell him either, since the Chronicler is bound to an oath of secrecy. No Chronicler is ever allowed to meddle, serving only as the dragon that records Dragon History; such is the consequence for the amount of power. The only reason he appeared before Zaze, is because it was written as such in the electric dragon's book. The Chronicler then continues on, saying that Zaze is the dragon that will save the Dragon Realms from an impending danger. The dragon however, downright refuses, saying that Spyro is the more ideal dragon. Ignitus replies that Spyro isn't capable of doing so, under the circumstances he was in. With all that said and done, Ignitus sends Zaze off, no longer answering the questions of the confused dragon.

The next day, the newly minted Fire Guardian, Flare has her thoughts scattered, as she remembers what happened yesterday. Zaze had appeared before her and quite blatantly told her to just tell Volteer what she felt. The electric dragon had picked up on the subliminal messages and came to the conclusion that Flare liked Volteer. And he was right on the money. She tried to deny it but failed. She had feelings for the dragon. But she couldn't bring herself to tell him, since he was still clearly recovering from the death of his ex.

On the brighter side, Zaze, Flame, Ember and Cynder found themselves entering the Training Dojo. The two males, under a bet, wanted to spar with each other to find out who was the better one. Spyro wasn't around since he had errands to do for Terrador. As Flame prepares himself for the fight, his mind wanders to what he had done yesterday.

He had asked the Guardians yesterday for advice as to what to do. Zaze had become his rival of sorts after all. In the end, he was given advice to settle the score with a sparring match. Victor gets all the spoils. The stuff their bets were made off. And that's why they were doing this match to begin with.

The match begins with the two going all out, to try and incapacitate the other. However things take a sudden twist when Zaze decides to give up, after getting knocked down by Flame. That was his agenda all along. He just took on the bet to give Flame the courage to speak to Ember. Zaze was indeed always the bridge, and never the crosser.

The victory celebration is soon stopped when Spyro appears. A quick chat and a minor slip up later, everyone is soon congratulating Spyro and Cynder, as the news of their relationship, officially, just got out. Moments later, Sparx arrives at the Training Dojo to find Spyro and Flame sparring. All of them sit along the sidelines, eagerly watching the exciting match. Things do get exciting, but not in a good way. Out of the blue, Spyro uses Convexity on Flame. Zaze, thinking quickly, uses his element to jumpstart his body, giving him the ability of lightning speed. This in turn saved Flame from a quick and painful death. They leave, heading immediately to the infirmary, leaving Spyro alone at the Training Dojo.

With Cyril's medical training, they are able to save Flame. Zaze's valiant effort however, had its consequences. Using his lighting speed technique leaves his body twitching afterwards, which was easily cured with a tonic given by Cyril. He remarks that they are running out of medical supplies, and is understaffed. Ember volunteers to take care of Flame in the meantime that Cyril is gone. And with that, Sparx, Cynder and Zaze leave the room, still shaken up by the event that happened.

Deciding to take a breather, Zaze wanders down the hall, heading to his room. He is, however, sidetracked when he happens to stumble into a room. It was unknown to him that he had actually entered the Grotto, where the Pool of Visions resided. Thinking the pool in the middle is for nothing, he leaves, until something actually happened. The pool caught his attention, and he peers into it, only to be bombarded with visions. Zaze sees Warfang, under siege once again, led by a dragon covered in black aura. As he regains his composure, the "dream" he had that involved the Chronicler rang in his ears; specifically, the mention of him being the saviour of the Dragon Realms. Later he confirms his horror, when he asks Volteer what the pool was for. It is then he realizes that what he saw is actually, the future.

But Zaze, being Zaze, decides to keep this to himself for now. He didn't want to outright blurt this sort of thing out in the open. They'd think he was crazy. And besides, maybe he was just seeing things. Changing the topic around, the electric dragon decides to have a chat with the Electric Guardian, wondering why he was in the library in the first place. However, due to a minor slip up, Volteer blurts out something he never thought he'd say himself. He mentions that he actually likes Flare. Things get clarified later on though, as the Guardian tells Zaze that he can't handle a relationship right now. He was still stricken with grief. He was clamming up and shunning everyone out. Zaze talks some sense into him, and succeeds. The Guardian decides to give himself a second chance, and plans on catching up with Flare.

At the infirmary on the other hand, things get happier as Flame finally recovers and wakes up. Ember gets him up to speed and does also another. She braves herself and asks him the question, if he actually liked her.

Outside, Flare stands, bored. She finished all her Guardian duties, and she was completely bored with nothing to do. Luckily though, Cyril arrives and invites her to go with him as he does some errands. The Ice Guardian then proceeds to go to the Gem Depot, a shop that sells the gems that populate the Dragon Realms; a distributor of sorts, with their supplies coming directly from the moles' mines. There Cyril manages to place the order they need, solving the lack of gems they have in the Temple. He, or they, gets this for free, because of an old agreement, dating way back to the time of the Ancestors, between the dragons and moles, as he explains to a puzzled Flare.

Listening to Zaze's advice, Volteer heads out and is soon wandering the streets of Warfang as well. There he bumps into a familiar face, Hunter, along with his eagle, Chase. Inevitably, he crosses paths with the dragon he was looking for, Flare. The two hit off, with the latter feeling happy that Volteer was back to his old, happy, talkative' self again. The happy atmosphere also translated back to the infirmary as Ember nervously waited for Flame's response. The two soon find out that they've been having the same feelings for each other after all and seal the deal with a kiss.

An hour later, Volteer and Flare have been hanging out and overall having a great time. But all good things must come to an end. As they head back up the stairs, heading to the Temple, Volteer braves himself to ask her if she wants to start dating. He gets interrupted by none other than the dragon that Flare fought back at the Ascension Competition, Pyrus. He comes with an odd request. Seeing as learning from your mistakes is the best way to get experience, he asks Flare if she is willing to have him as a temporary student for the time being.

Meanwhile, Zaze is keeping Flame company as he hangs out with him at the infirmary. They talk and slowly drift into a specific topic of relationships. There Flame asks Zaze if he has found "someone", like he found Ember. The electric dragon replies nonchalantly, saying it's not worth his time. A few moments later, Ember and Cyril enter the room. They are informed that Spyro has been reprimanded quite badly for what he has done, and was now doing hard exercises given by Terrador. Later that night, Zaze encounters Spyro, who was looking worse than ever. He asks if he can apologize for him for what he has done. Zaze agrees and watch as the dragon grimaces, saying he's been having strong headaches as of late. Zaze could only watch as Spyro walk away, looking tired as ever.

The next day, news of Flare taking up an apprentice is beginning to spread around the Temple, and its effects were showing on a certain Guardian. Volteer walks around grouchy, trying to deny a blatant fact. He's downright jealous, and just wouldn't admit it. The other guardians however, have their own paws filled as they realize that a special time was beginning to near. It was time to give the "talk" to their fellow young dragons, since most of them haven't received it yet. At the Training Dojo, Pyrus, Flare, Flame and Ember are there, having their first class. Pyrus finally shows his motives as he tells Flare that he actually came because he wanted a rematch, since he lost back at the Ascension Competition; however, Volteer later stumbles upon the two, at the Training Dojo, in a rather…sexual position.

But Volteer just sees the ending of a rather epic fight. Earlier, Pyrus and Flare sparred, both equally giving it their all. But Pyrus won, and coincidentally lands atop of Flare. And in reality, Pyrus is mated and already has hatchlings. But Volteer fails to know that and has his heartbroken completely. Zaze could only comfort the old Guardian.

A little later, a bit of good news sweeps up, as news of Pyre's arrival is intercepted. His mission was a success and has found more dragons that had survived the entire incident. But on Volteer's side, the electric guardian was in pieces. Luckily for him though, Flare arrives in his room, and she clarifies what exactly happened back at the Training Dojo. With truths being spilled out, Volteer decides to spill his feelings for Flare as well, and wouldn't you know it, the two hit off quite nicely. Another successful relationship, brought out about by Zaze's matchmaking.

The next day, many more things happen. Zaze manages to find another piece of clue that he failed to realize before. A clue to case nearly long forgotten; said case was the one about who messed up his room around the time of the party. This time he got the clue of fire. It isn't much to go on, but he made a mental note about it. But the main event was the fact that Pyre had arrived, bringing about many more dragons into the Temple. Two of which, Zaze got to talk to. Alyssa, a healer, and Manuel her younger brother; Cyril actually sought out Alyssa, wondering if she wanted to work at the Temple, since they were understaffed. However, the response he got was a big slap to the face, shocking everyone completely. Apparently, he and Alyssa had history. The problem was, he couldn't remember it.

On the other side, Flame is fairing better than Cyril. He tells the news of him and Ember finally together, and his father receives it quite well, and even gives his well wishes. Cynder on the other hand is also on the same level, as he meets Manuel, and easily befriends him. But a little later, things get a bit out of hand, as tempers rise, as Cyril confronts Alyssa on her behaviour. That wasn't the only thing that was confronted. Zaze too had an encounter, as he sees his door ajar, and wonders if the culprit that had been messing up his room, would finally be caught by him, red handed.

His efforts are in vain as he finds the culprit nowhere in his room. What he does hear however shock him. He hears a scream, coming from outside. Without missing a beat, he jumps out the window and flies to the scene. There Zaze finds himself a dragoness frozen in ice. Manuel and Cynder later arrive to the scene, to help him rescue the poor dragoness.

After a rather near death situation later, they get her out of the ice and back to the infirmary. Her name is Latis, the apprentice of Alyssa. And apparently the one that had attacked her was a black dragon. With the excitement dying down, Zaze gets to snoop around and hears that the issue between Alyssa and Cyril aren't getting any better. In fact it's getting worse. Zaze decides to give the guardian some advice, and talk some sense into him. Later that night, Cyril follows Zaze's advices and talks to Alyssa calmly. That was when Alyssa finally tells the reason why she acted that way to Cyril. Apparently, she and Cyril did have history. They were together for a short time, and even mated. It meant the whole world to her. However, Cyril thought different. To him, it was just one of the many relationships he had as a playboy. And that was why Alyssa hated him. He didn't apologize to her. And now that she actually told him what he had done, he had the nerve to even ask her what was wrong with his actions. This earned Cyril another well placed slap to the face. Zaze hears about this later on from Alyssa, and decides to talk some sense into Cyril one more time.

The next day, he did so. But things got a bit out of hand. After a heated argument, Zaze ended up giving Cyril a punch to the face. But it never came. Latis had managed to stop him in time. However, she equally reprimanded Cyril, after hearing what the argument was about. And she topped it off by slapping Cyril across the face, before taking Zaze to the infirmary. He had developed a cough, and it needed to be treated, before it became worse.

Outside, Cyril is contemplating the recent events that transpired. He just got told off by two younger dragons. He needed to look at what he had done with his life. So he finds himself walking, walking and walking, contemplating if what he had done to Alyssa was truly a bad thing. He even walks into Pyre, who also talks some sense into him. But earlier however, things looked far bleak than Cyril's situation. Manuel and Flare find themselves looking at a dead body of a dragon in the Temple.

Spyro is immediately dispatched, and news of the situation spreads quickly. Cynder, Sparx, Flame, Ember, Latis, and Zaze arrive at the crime scene to find the body. Identified as Kastel, but cause of death was unknown. He was skewered by a metal spike, but that didn't kill him. It was mystery, and it was one that Zaze wanted to solve. Unfortunately though, suspicion falls upon Zaze, as he has no alibi whatsoever out of all of them. But with some thinking, and some time, Zaze deduces who had killed the poor dragon. It should be noted that Cyril by now tried to apologize to Alyssa, but the latter was too busy to talk. Their talk is put on hold.

Kastel's killer was a shocker too all of them.

The confrontation happens at the rooftop, with Zaze accompanied by Latis, stopping Spyro and Cynder from entering the Temple. The culprit was Spyro, but not Spyro. It turned out that Spyro is under the control of Darkness, but not his own darkness. And this darkness seems to know who Zaze is.

However, the Darkness wants Zaze out of the picture, for a reason he didn't disclose. The fight began but ended terribly. They were beaten; badly. Zaze watched in horror as the Dark Dragon tried to finish of Latis. Summoning all his strength, he attacked.

Attacked with the element of Convexity.

Cynder was shocked to see this, but it did the job. The Darkness that engulfed Spyro was gone and he was alive, but out cold. Zaze was in the same condition. The two immediately bring the two some medical attention.

So many questions raced through Cynder's head as she gently carried Zaze's body.

But one question stuck the most.

Who is Zaze the Dragon?**  
**

**End of Summary for Legacy of Legends**

**Summary for Legacy of Legends 2**

The story picks up with Zaze waking from his slumber. It has been exactly one week after his encounter with the Dark Dragon. One week after the fight they had that they nearly lost. To his relief, everyone else had made it out alive and in one piece. Latis in particular was rather happy seeing finally wake up. It didn't take long for him to be brought up to speed. Classes had started while he was out cold, so the dragon temple was now flooded with new faces that weren't there before. The fight with the Dark Dragon was purposefully kept under wraps by the Guardians to prevent widespread panic. But the most notable thing he was informed of was the latest development he had. Convexity, the element he managed to summon to save Latis from certain death from the Dark Dragon. It would seem that using the element was the main cause of his coma. He was given a fair warning to not use it, or it may lead to problems that are worse.

Later that night he was contacted once again by Ignitus, the Chronicler, to be told an ominous warning. "Not all is what it seems to be, and the first try is not the last." Vague words that couldn't be explained due to the Chronicler being bounded to an oath; Zaze was left to contemplate.

The next day, Zaze got the first taste of his class. Surprisingly, their teacher was Pyrus. At the Guardians room, an urgent message arrives. After a short discussion, it turns out that Volteer and Flare were up to the task of checking out the problem. They take off, leaving Cyril and Terrador to watch over the temple.

Hours later, Zaze and Spyro found themselves in an interesting face off. The two wanted a rematch, seeing as the prior fight they had (Zaze versus the Dark Dragon) didn't count. It was all in good fun and not to the death. But that didn't mean that they weren't going to give it their all. The crowd watched eagerly as the sparks flew. But only one had to come out on top. It was none other than Zaze; but for only a few seconds however as he passes out from exhaustion.

The next day goes by and Zaze, Latis, Flame and Sparx find themselves accompanying Terrador. They needed to recover some lost scrolls and tomes that were left behind at the old temple near Silver River. As they search for the items to be recovered, talk of the Acquaintance Gala begins to pop up. It was an event meant to help dragons get acquainted with each other. But it was interrupted by a dragon who apparently took lodging in the old condemned temple. Thankfully, Terrador easily restrained the dragon and they came to know him as Crombe. Crombe was a dragon who bore hatred for Malefor and his minions. He lived with the belief that they were working for the Dark Master.

The belief was soon shattered as they informed him that the Dark Master was dead and all was well. Of course he didn't take it lightly. Revenge on the Dark Master was the main motive he had in living. But after some convincing, they managed to bring him back with them to Warfang, with the reasoning that it wasn't safe for a young dragon like Crombe to be staying out so far alone. Naturally, sparks flew when the dragon laid eyes on Cynder. A verbal reprimand followed suit. Seeing the conflict, the Guardians devise a plan to fix the problem.

And that was in the form of a camping trip.

They were grouped into pairs, and throughout the entire camping they were to stay with each other. Cynder and Crombe were paired together whilst Zaze and Latis ended up with each other. Flame was with Draiana and Spyro was with Ember. The first pairing naturally had some sparks flying given how Crombe's attitude was towards Cynder. And this even boiled down to a near death scenario that happened throughout the camping trip. However, with Zaze's advice and Cynder's understanding, they managed to finally let Crombe understand the situation of the reality he was in. The Dark Master was no more and Cynder was just another dragoness in the world growing up.

But that didn't mean that peace was evident as they thought it would be.

A few days later, Courtship Week began. Zaze found the entire event confusing but didn't let it get to him. He briefly wondered around for a while until he came across Latis training at the Dojo. He noted had strong she had gotten and her techniques had improved. That was until she passed out. In a rush, he immediately brought her to the Infirmary. Latis was grateful, but the act brought about questions in her that she had trouble answering. Ember came upon her and she soon found consultation. She was confronted with the question: did she have feelings for Zaze?

She didn't know the answer but she planned to find out. And she was to confront him later at the Gala. That was, if she wasn't drunk. It turned out that she couldn't hold her drinks and Zaze had to carry her to her room.

After the night's festivities, and everyone waking up with hangovers, Spyro and Cynder were summoned. Volteer and Flare had been gone for too long, and the rest of the Guardians were getting worried. It turns out that the two were sent to investigate a monster that had been terrorizing the area near the cheetahs. It was a simple search and destroy mission that two Guardians would have no problem dealing with. But their prolonged absence was a red flag. Much to his dismay, Spyro and Cynder were sent out to look for them. He couldn't since he had to deal with running the Temple.

Latis on the other hand had an epiphany. Since she could now think clearly, given her heat had passed, it dawned on her. She did have feelings for Zaze. Zaze on the other hand was thinking of different things altogether. He had bumped into a dragoness by the name of Decibele that claimed she was an acquaintance of the earth guardian. But when the two finally came in contact with each other, Terrador's sudden outburst made him think otherwise.

On the other side of the temple, Crombe's been having a bit of a development. Dreams shave been entering his mind, giving him glimpses onto his fun filled life before it all went to hell. He was reminded of a relative he once had. Alongside this, danger seemed to be drawing closer to the temple. Crombe, finding himself in the company of Latis and Ember, hears but fails to see the mysterious figures that seemed to be hanging around the temple.

Back with Zaze, his kindness begins to kick in and he manages to get a handle on the situation brewing between Decibele and Terrador. But for him to fully understand the situation, he needed to know what he was really dealing with. Inevitably, Decibele gives him the story of how she met Terrador. And from there Zaze got the gist of it; he was going to make things right; because that's how he rolled. And Zaze being Zaze, fixed the situation. He explained to Terrador that it all started from just a misunderstanding. And Decibele, Nox and Glacylynn didn't mean it. It was hard at first, but eventually, Terrador let up and listened.

Just as a things settled down, a shocker comes in; literally. Out of the blue, a dragon stumbled into the fray, being chased by wild animals. Zaze comes into the rescue but he got more than he asked for. The dragon utters his name before passing out completely. Zaze is left stunned. Questions buzz inside his head as he brings the mysterious dragon back to Warfang. It turned out that it was his long lost brother, Phase. Reunion was soon brought in and Zaze finally got a glimpse of the past he has been missing. It was depressing, but Zaze had to face the music. But Phase kept from him the real truth. After exposing his blatant lie, Phase completely spills the beans and tells them what really happened. And most importantly, why Zaze hated parties.

After the depressing yet insightful insight into Zaze's past as told by Phase, another shocker happened. Latis finally found the courage to speak her feelings to Zaze. But apparently Zaze saw it in a different light. Latis left, a few moments later, heartbroken. Ember naturally comes to her aid and surprisingly Crombe as well. That's when she gets filled in on Zaze's past and gets a bit of understanding on the electric dragon she fell in love with.

That night, Crombe's dreams finally give him the answer he's been wanting. It gives him a glimpse on the past he has been trying to forget and shows that he is not alone. He always thought that everyone he knew died. But he was wrong. One had survived; a living relative. And it was someone he already knew. But before he could go and tell his missing family member, disaster strikes.

The temple is invaded by grublins and trolls and everyone scrambles to safety. Inevitably, after some much fighting and a few close calls, everyone got off roughly fine. But the invasion rang some bells in the Guardians' heads. Spyro and Cynder have been gone for far too long looking for Volteer and Flare who themselves have been missing. Something was definitely going on. Without much of a choice, Zaze, Phase, Crombe, Latis and Celsius alongside Sparx (who demanded to be part of the search party) are all sent to look for them, seeing as the five were the most abled and least hurt out of everyone. Terrador and Cyril couldn't go themselves since they had to keep everything under control at the Temple.

Arriving at their destination, they are greeted by Hunter who guides them to the last location Spyro and Cynder were sent in looking for Flare and Volteer. But the group is then ambushed by Grublins and is forced to take refuge at a nearby cave. They managed to survive the ambush and finally locate where the missing dragons were. To their surprise, Spyro and the others were encased in what seemed like crystals. They were about to take them out when they were confronted by none other than the Dark Dragon who had been with them all along, in the form of Phase. Revelations occur one after the other. It turns out that Celsius was the dragoness helping the Dark Dragk. Everything Phase had told them was a lie from the start. Zaze's past, his relationship with him, everything. He did it all just so he could get closer to who he needed in the first place, and that was Zaze.

Because he needed Zaze to be whole again; he needed Zaze so he could return to full power; to become the Dark Master once again.

And he did just that. Right before their very eyes, the Dark Master Malefor was resurrected, but in a somewhat odd form. But that didn't matter to him. Leaving the gang to death by trapping them inside the cave, he takes off to conquer Warfang once again.

But Spyro and the others weren't going to give up that easily. They wanted to bring down Malefor and bring back Zaze. Everyone clamors to head out but unfortunately Celsius is taken out of the picture as they try to rush out of the cave. But there wasn't time to mourn. They had to stop the Dark Master at all costs. After finally getting out of the cave, they themselves head back to Warfang for the final duel against the resurrected evil.

It was violent. It was brutal. And it wasn't pretty.

In the end, Spyro, Cynder, Latis and Crombe were the ones to face Malefor. And it was clearly a losing battle.

Inevitably they triumphed, Malefor was stopped and Zaze was brought back.

But with a cost they never expected.

Zaze could only shout in agony as he held his closest and dearest friend's lifeless body in his paws.

The skies turned dark, and then proceeded to rain.

It was as if it was grieving alongside him, for the death of a dragon.

**End of Summary for Legacy of Legends 2**

**I do advise you though to read "Legacy of Legends" and "Legacy of Legends 2". This is a summary, so it's been cut short. If you didn't notice, the social arcs themselves aren't covered in the summary of LoL 2. So you'll be missing out on some character development.**

There may be some plot holes that I may have overlooked, I apologize in advance. I tried my best in making all the canon characters stay in character, but I had to improvise at certain points, since I really couldn't imagine how would they react. Lastly, Spyro fanfic fans who are reading this, please take note. I am not a pro at writing so don't expect me to be great because I'm not. Got that?

So with all that said and done, I present the 1st chapter of my new story,

**Legacy of Legends 3**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing except my characters and the story itself. Other canon characters are owned by their respective companies.**

Exclaimer: To people who don't like the story, just don't read it.

* * *

Chapter 1

Bad Dream

Sorry.

The dragon could only watch in horror as the scenes in front of him unfold. He felt terrified. His body moved of its own accord and he was forced to be nothing more but a passive observer, watching the terror he is committing without any control whatsoever. Left and right, he saw his very friends fight him and the forces he sent out valiantly but fail badly. He tried to call out to them, but when he opened his maw, only destruction followed. Fireballs rained from the sky, lightning bolts streaked down from the clouds, the earth shook with each of his step and ice froze everything in his path. He was an unstoppable force of nature. No dragon in the world would be in their right mind to try and go up against him. But his very friends—the friends he held dear to his heart—bravely fought him in an effort to stop the chaos. However it was a lost cause.

One by one he struck them down until only one of them stood. She was in the middle of the battlefield; her allies' lifeless body lay dead at her feet.

"Zaze! Please!" she pleaded. "Stop this!"

"FOOL!" he boomed, sending out a shockwave of electricity that rippled across the air. The dragoness could barely hold her ground as she took cover behind an ice wall she summoned in front of her. "That dragon is dead! He is no more, for I am Malefor! The Dark Master!"

The purple scaled dragon known as Malefor roared into the skies and charged straight at the dragoness. His opponent however was unintimidated and didn't waver from her spot. She had a determined look on her face as she stared down the charging dragon. She was going to get him back no matter what the cost.

No! Please! Get out of the way! I don't want to hurt you!

The dragon frantically shouted at himself to no avail. His body wasn't listening to himself. He was running full steam ahead at the small dragoness who clearly stood no chance against the hulking purple dragon. He could only close his eyes as he waited for the inevitable impact. But he couldn't drown out the sounds from his ears. She shrieked in pain as her body collided with the large mass. The sound tore him apart mentally. He couldn't bear the sound of his friends being hurt; especially someone as important to him. However, that was enough to pull him back from the darkness he was in. His body stopped moving immediately as he took control. But the damage was already done.

A few moments later, he stood over her body, watching the life drain out of her like the blood that was that was flowing freely from her wounds. Tears streaked down his face as he literally watched her die in front of her eyes. She on the other hand however was calm.

"W-what have I done…Latis…"

"Zaze…" Latis rasped, signalling Zaze to lean in close to hear her. "What's done is done. What matters is that we brought you back. And I managed to save you instead." She let out a grunt, as she felt her consciousness slipping. Sleep felt so good.

"Zaze…before I forget."

"What is it?"

"I never had the chance to tell you this before…but…Zaze…I…I…"

Even talking felt painful now. But she was going to make sure she'd say it.

"Zaze…I love you."

What happened afterwards proceeded to traumatize him forever. Zaze couldn't handle the truth. He; he himself had killed his own dear friend; who which has just professed his love to him. He didn't know how to react. He just felt empty. Like a part of him inside died. There was now a gaping hole in his heart that may never heal again.

He looked up to the skies and desperately looked for answers, but there was none. All at once, his emotions came out like a flood.

"LATIS!"

The skies turned dark, and then proceeded to rain.

It was as if it was grieving alongside him, for the death of a dragon.

0

"Zaze!"

Zaze's eyes burst open. The first thing he saw was light which proceeded to blind him completely. He had to blink a couple of times to get himself reacquainted. He coughed as he felt someone put him upright into a sitting position and began checking him over.

"Are you okay?" The voice called out. "You screamed."

Zaze calmed himself as he looked around to the source of the voice. Someone grabbed his cheeks and gently turned his face. "You look pale, Zaze. Are you feeling ill?"

He had to blink again to make sure he was seeing things correctly. The dragon that was holding him was none other than his ice dragoness friend, Latis.

"L-Latis…?" Sure enough, she was there; in the flesh; all safe and sound. He had to reach out and touch her to even make sure.

"Z-Zaze?" Latis reacted, surprised at how his friend was acting. It was like he was seeing her in a different light. Then all of a sudden, she was pulled into a tight bear hug.

"Zaze!?" Latis' cheeks proceeded to light up immediately at the affection she was receiving.

"I can't believe it! You're really here!" he whispered into her ear. "Oh Latis…thank the ancestors it was just a dream…oh gosh…"

"I…I am. What are you talking about?" Latis asked.

Zaze pulled away from her and she could've sworn there was teardrop in his eyes that he discreetly wiped away. "It's just…it was just…"

"Were you having a bad dream?"

Zaze sighed and nodded. "I…I did."

"What was it about?" Latis asked.  
"It was…" Zaze thought back.

The destruction of Warfang, leading a charge of Grublins, and him turning out to be Malefor; in retrospect it was…outrageous. It was like the imagination of a hatchling gone crazy added in with a dash of nightmare fuel. He could never do it. Attack his friends, let alone kill one of them. That was just plain crazy. He took a quick glance of his surroundings. It really was just a dream, he thought. Everything around him was plain and normal as day. The temple was fine, dragons were walking around, and others were playing in the open fields whilst some chatted happily with each other. He could even see Spyro and Cynder with Flame and Ember talking with a group of dragons. Crombe was underneath a shade of a tree, lethargically relaxing. Right next to him were Manuel and Draiana who were talking with Sparx. He glanced down at himself and saw that his scales were yellow again, not the horrific purple that they were in his nightmare.

It was a picturesque normal day at the dragon temple.

"It was not important," he said turning back to face Latis.

"Are you sure?" Latis asked, looking at him seriously.

"Sure. Like you said, it was just a bad dream." He shook his head calming down completely. "I can't believe I had a—"

"Nightmare?"

That voice. The color on Zaze's face drained completely. He knew that voice all too well.

"Oh, Phase! Didn't see you there," said Latis waiving at the dragon.

Zaze turned his head almost mechanically to see the dragon she was waiving at. True enough, he was there, Zaze's supposed twin brother.

Phase smirked. "What's wrong, Zaze? You look pale. It looks like you've seen a ghost."

"He's fine; he just had a bad dream," Latis answered for him.

"A nightmare eh?" Phase asked. Zaze remained frozen in his spot. He didn't know what to do. He wasn't sure who this dragon was exactly anymore.

"Was it something like…"

Phase moved behind Latis. Flexing his claws, Zaze heard the crackle of electricity fizzle in the air. But just as he realized what he was going to do, he was too late. In one quick motion, he stabbed her straight into the chest, wounding her fatally.

"This?" he asked a maniacal grin on his face.

Zaze's world crumbled right before his very eyes. The picturesque scene he was in vanished completely and was replaced with a moment he was all too familiar with. Gone were the signs of peace and tranquility, and in their place were destruction and chaos. He looked down on himself and sure enough, his vibrant yellow scales were gone and they were replaced with the familiar striking color of purple. At his feet however, was Latis's lifeless body.

Again, reality broke through. What happened had happened. And there was no changing that.

0

Zaze woke up, panting and his heart beating frantically in his chest.

There was that dream again.

It's been seven days ever since that traumatizing event, yet his mind would not let up in reminding him of the horrors he had committed. It wasn't a dream. All of it was a reality. He was the Dark Master. He was truly Malefor. And he was the one that ended up killing one of his dear friends, Latis. He closed his eyes and tried to ease his mind as the images of the event came to him. He didn't want to remember it anymore. He got out of bed and caught a glimpse of his scales as the rays of the sun illuminated them. His underbelly remained yellow, much to his relief. But his main scales now faded from yellow to purple, as if unable to decide what color to really show. And that was only the start of it. There was also his physical appearance.

But now was not the time to linger on details such as those. His stomach reminded him with a growl on what he was supposed to be doing. And that was breakfast. Zaze only hoped that the rest of the day would be far better, instead of the grim and despair that was his dream. Looking outside, he saw the orange streaks that broke away the darkness, signaling the coming sunrise. At least there was something good out of all this. He didn't oversleep.

0

"Hey can you hand that over for me?"

"This?"

"Yeah."

"Thanks."

"You know, I still don't know why we're doing this."

"You're not doing anything. So don't complain."

"Touchy."

"He's right. No one asked you to come here with us."

"I know. It's just that, I'm bored."

"Well, if you're that bored Sparx, why don't you hand me that piece of tile over there?"

The dragonfly raised his brow, and looked to where his brother was pointing. "You mean this?" he asked, holding up the tile in question.

Spyro nodded and Sparx flew over to him and handed it over. Holding it in place, Spyro blew a small but concentrated blast of fire from his maw, melting the tile into place completely. He let out a smile, proud of his handiwork

"You done over there?" his companion asked.

"Yes. How about you, Cynder?"

"Just got done as well," she replied, walking over to them.

"You know, I feel like we're missing something," said Sparx scratching his chin.

"What do you mean?" Spyro asked, sitting on the side next to his brother.

Cynder sat next to him. "A booty joke?"

Sparx beamed. "There we go! That's what we're missing!"

Spyro glanced at the two of them then shook his head. "I don't get it."

"You don't have to," replied Cynder.

"But honestly though," Sparx's tone turned serious again. "How's he holding up?"

"I'm guessing as best as he can," answered Spyro.

"I know how he feels. I can empathize," said Cynder looking down.

Sparx sat on his brother shoulder to rest his wings. "But you already vouched for him right?"

"We did," Spyro answered. "Same as I did for Cynder back at the time."

"But that didn't mean that dragons still treated me the same," said Cynder. "There was still prejudice."

"And having purple scales yet you're not the purple dragon isn't making things easier," added Spyro.

Sparx nodded, understanding their answers. "Must be tough when everyone thinks you're the enemy."

* * *

**Author's Notes:**

******This chapter serves more as a refresher. And sadly, yes, it is canon. Latis' is dead. The ship has now sunk. I'm sorry folks.**

* * *

**Please take some time to R&R!**

**Follow the story to never miss updates!**

**And favorite it, along with the author!**


	2. Chapter 2 Repercussions

**Time for another update! I would just like to say, thank you guys. The amount of people that were still interested in Zaze's life amazed me. I truly thought that no one would be interested in the story anymore given that it had been five months in development. But I was proven wrong once again. Thank you guys. Thank you so much for making me realize that I made an amazing work of fiction.**

**Honestly, the only thing I need to make this complete is fanart!**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing except my characters and the story itself. Other canon characters are owned by their respective companies.**

**Exclaimer: To people who don't like the story, just don't read it.**

* * *

Chapter 2

Repercussions

"Must be tough when everyone thinks you're the enemy."

"I for one can speak from experience," said Cynder.

"But you're not the enemy now," Spyro replied to her.

"I was though." She then glanced at Sparx who was surprise at her stare. "Your brother was adamant in reminding me that."

Sparx smiled. "Well we had to be wary."

Spyro shook his head, just watching the banter. He turned his head and watched as the sun rose and gently bathed them all in its warmth. However, alongside this came a reminder. The three dragons looked to see the head mole walking over to them.

"Spyro," he called out. "Are you guys done here?"

"Yes. Everything's set," he answered.

The mole nodded. "Thanks for the help you three. It really made things smoother."

"Well, you could thank the two of us." Cynder then motioned to Sparx. "He didn't really do anything."

"Oh hush you. I was moral support," Sparx retorted.

"Yeah you were," Cynder answered back.

"In any case, we'll be going now," Spyro said opening his wings. "See you around! Come on you two!"

"Bye!" Cynder said, before jumping down the roof.

Spyro gently landed on the floor with a soft thud, followed by Cynder. Sparx glided down and rested on his shoulder. A loud growl escaped his companion's stomach.

"Come on; let's go get something to eat. I'm starving," said Cynder.

0

"Hey! Come on, Flame! Don't quit now." He just groaned in response. Why did he have to deal with this?

"Do you want my help or not?" He let out a frustrated sigh as he opened his eyes and glanced at the dragoness. Ember was giving her a stern look. "Do you?"

"I do, Ember, I do. It's just that I don't get it anymore," he complained.

"Well, you have to. Or else you're going to fail the test later," Ember reprimanded him. She tapped the scroll on the table somewhat forcibly. "Now come on, read this."

Flame looked at her with pleading eyes. "Can we at least take a break and eat breakfast?"

Ember glared at Flame. It was quite obvious that he was stalling. But those eyes were something she couldn't resist. She let up, her glare relaxing. "Alright; fine. We're taking a break."

The dragon beamed, finding new found energy. "Yay! You're the best, Ember."

Ember smiled as Flame gave her a peck at the cheek. "Oh, you."

"What do you want for breakfast?" he asked.

"Same as always."

"Okay then," the fire dragon replied before heading out to get their food.

Ember cleared the table free of the scrolls and placed them in her bag. The two dragons were at the Dining Hall studying. Flame had enlisted—more like beg—for help in learning a certain topic they had come across in class. The ever so helpful dragoness, Ember decided to help her mate. But being his mate, Ember had a hard time resisting his charms to squirm out of their tutorial lesson.

"Here you go," chirped Flame, handing her his food.

"Thank you." She proceeded to eat her food happily.

At least they were spending time together, and that was enough for her. The Dining Hall began to fill as dragons woke up from their slumber. It was soon buzzing with activity. It was the daily routine for the dragons that lived and studied at the dragon temple. Wake up early in the morning, get your breakfast, and proceed to head into your class; another average day, for an average dragon. Flame scanned the arriving dragons and spotted their friends from the crowd. He waved them over to join them at their table.

"Good morning," Ember greeted them as they sat themselves. Spyro seated himself across from Flame and Cynder seated herself beside Spyro. The two dragonesses were across from each other. Sparx just contented himself on seating at the table. He didn't take up much space anyway.

"Good morning to you too," replied Cynder, taking a bite from her food.

"I take it you two were up at the roof again?" Flame asked.

"We were," Spyro answered. "We put in a lot of work."

"And Sparx didn't do anything, did he?"

Sparx glared at Flame. "Hey! Moral support is very important!"

Flame just smiled gleefully. Ember just rolled her eyes. "I believe you Sparx. Moral support is very important; I for one am currently doing that."

"You still helping Flame study?" Sparx asked.

"Yes. This guy right here is having a hard time understanding the importance of the topic we're dealing with right now."

"Really Flame? It's not that hard," said Cynder, looking at the dragon who felt down.

"It's not my fault that I'm not good at math, like you guys." He let out a defeated groan. "I don't even know why we need to study it!"

"I concur. But it's important for us to know how to count," said Spyro. "So I think it's important."

Flame just rolled his eyes and let out an annoyed huff. "Whatever. Can we not talk about it?"

"Okay, okay, fine." Cynder said trying to ease his friend's troubles.

The chatter in the Dining Hall became even livelier as more and more dragons began to pile in. Spyro, Sparx and Flame fell into a topic of conversation, so Ember decided to chat up Cynder. But before she could even talk, the dragoness already got hold of her.

"So Ember," she said. "How are you holding up?"

Ember raised her brow. It took her a moment to realize what she was referring to. "Fine, for the most part."

Cynder looked at her, prompting her to continue. "It's just that…I miss her."

"We all do, Ember. But I understand where you're coming from. You and Latis were close, weren't you?"

The dragoness smiled. "You could say that. But then again, we are a tight group of friends, aren't we?"

"That is very true."

"But you know what bothers me the most?"

"What?"

"It's just not the same anymore."

Cynder glanced at their table to see what she was referring to. Spyro and Flame were deep in their conversation alongside Sparx. It seemed that they were talking about which was stronger: a fireball or just a stream of fire. Personally, she'd have said fireball. But she didn't want to intrude their discussion with her opinion.

"We'd have Zaze cracking jokes and we'd all laugh."

"And we'll also have Latis talking to us."

Ember sighed. "I feel like we lost two close friends instead of one."

She looked at Cynder was also reminiscing the better days they had. "How's he doing anyway?"

Cynder shrugged. "He's the one hit the most out of all of us. He needs time; a lot of time."

"It just makes me feel sad…to see him so depressed. It's just not like him."

"Who wouldn't be depressed after what he's been through?" Cynder asked rhetorically. "He's just coping with it the best he can."

Ember looked at her. "Why don't we try talking to him again?"

"We can, but I don't think we'll get much."

Just then, the lively atmosphere inside the Dining Hall seemed to have taken a slight dip as a certain dragon entered the room. Lively chatter went down slightly as everyone took in the sight of the other purple dragon. Even though they tried to hide it, it was quite obvious that they were stealing glances at the dragon as he passed down the tables and took his meal.

"Good morning, Zaze," Cynder chirped, scooting over to give him some space to seat in.

"Good morning…" Zaze replied, almost mumbling the words.

As he took a seat, the atmosphere livened up again, but it was quite obvious that everyone was a bit uneasy around the purple dragon, even though he was under the company of his friends. It was like this every day. The moment Zaze entered a room, the atmosphere undeniably changes. Dragons were naturally nervous and weary around him; every dragon except those who knew him personally. And they weren't that many. Zaze however was used to it. It was hard at first when everyone gave him quiet stares and looks but over time it grew on him. He wasn't dumb. He knew why they acted like that and he couldn't blame them. He himself wasn't all too happy in realizing who he was. Zaze felt out of place. He felt like he didn't belong anymore.

Spyro, Cynder, Flame, Ember and even Sparx exchanged glances at one another. They all were waiting for one another to do something about Zaze. But the problem was, they didn't know what to do. Zaze didn't look like he cared anymore. He had an empty look on his face as he ate and the usual glow he had before was no longer to be seen. He really was affected greatly.

"Well in any case, let's get a move on guys. Classes will start soon," Spyro said, finishing up on his meals.

Flame groaned. "Please…don't remind me."  
"Don't worry, Flame, what I taught you earlier will come around soon enough," said Ember, trying to ease his concerns.

"I hope so."

"Are you done eating Zaze?" Cynder asked the dragon. Zaze nodded and stood up.

"If you guys are leaving, I'll be heading over to the library then," said Sparx. "I told Volteer I'll be helping him move some scrolls around."

"Good for you then," said Flame. "At least you don't have to deal with math."

"You'll be fine," said Ember.

0

The rest of the day passed with little to no activity. The dragons all attended their respective classes and learned the necessary lessons for the day. For Zaze however it all just felt like a sense of déjà vu. As his mind processed the questions being asked by the teacher, or the words he heard as the teacher discussed something, it all felt familiar to him. It wasn't surprising seeing as that he had technically studied all these before. Back when he was Maffrin. To his classmates however, he just came off as someone super smart. He had his memories to thank for that. Ever since his joining with Phase and becoming "whole" again, his memories were now roughly back together. They were still hazy but he could feel that they were there; unlike before when they were non-existent at all. It was like looking through a glass that had fogged up. He could view them in his mind but they were blurry. Zaze had to admit: the familiarity helped him in class. But the memories had their downsides as well.

Although the images may have been blurry, the sounds and voices were clear as day. When he wasn't having the nightmare of Latis dying, he had something else instead. Images of destruction and chaos filled his head accompanied by the shouts and screams of dragons running for their lives—running from him. He could even hear their voices beg for mercy. To be spared by his killing spree in which he ended their lives abruptly with no remorse whatsoever. It was a dream he wasn't proud of and each time the thought came to him, it made his spine shiver.

"Zaze?"

The dragon looked up. Manuel and Draiana were both looking at him with worried looks.

"You okay?" Manuel asked.

Zaze apologized. "I'm fine."

Manuel and Draiana glanced at each other. He clearly wasn't. Spyro, Cynder, Flame, Ember and practically everyone else in their group of friends had tasked each other to keep Zaze company. They all had come to realize that he needed a friend the most so that he wouldn't feel alone. They all wanted him back; the smiling, happy, energetic and downright carefree dragon; not the depressed version of him. But Zaze wasn't the only dragon they had to worry about. At the other side of the temple were Spyro and Flame, accompanying a rather silent than usual Crombe. Ever since what happened, Crombe fell into the same dry spell as Zaze did. Both dragons seemed depressed; and with good reason. Zaze for finally knowing who he was and Crombe…

The memory was striking as ever.

0 = 0 = 0

"Hey, what are you talking about?" the earth dragon growled.

"If you don't have to answer to us, then we don't have to answer to you either." Flame said as he glared at the dragon.

"There are a few exceptions," Terrador said, "Feral dragons can be taught. The first thing a feral dragon is usually taught is how to talk. Since it's unlikely that this dragon has had any social contact in a long time, there is an alternative. Some feral dragons aren't born feral. They usually can remember how to talk. They usually become feral from being orphaned and having to live in the wild."

"Because Dark Master's scum like you kill their parents!" the dragon growled again, this time more aggressively.

* * *

**Please take some time to R&R!**

**Follow the story to never miss updates!**

**And favorite it, along with the author!**


	3. Chapter 3 Worries

**Disclaimer: I own nothing except my characters and the story itself. Other canon characters are owned by their respective companies.**

**Exclaimer: To people who don't like the story, just don't read it.**

* * *

Chapter 3

Worries

To say that the dragon was confused was an understatement.

Feelings that he thought were long gone had begun to resurface back to the front of his mind. Crombe didn't know what to do. The past few weeks had been an emotional rollercoaster for him. From the day he realized that Latis, the ice dragoness that convinced him to go back to the temple with them in the first place—was actually his long lost cousin; all the way to the present.

0 = 0 = 0

"You know what, why don't you come with us? You must get lonely being here all by yourself." Latis suggested.

Crombe wasn't sure what to think. He's been alone for so long that he never gave it a second thought. But something about this dragoness made him want to come.

"Okay..." Crombe said almost instinctively.

Terrador blinked. "That was easier than expected."

"He's coming with us!?" Flame said. "I don't think this is a good idea."

"But we can't leave him here, Flame. And besides, he already agreed," Zaze said, assuringly.

0 = 0 = 0

That in of itself was a bombshell for him.

But then add the shock factor of his cousin dying right before his very eyes plus the cause of it being his friend—Zaze—who turned out to be the dragon that ended up ruining his entire life from the get go then…

0 = 0 = 0

"Why are you crying?" Cynder asked.

"I'm pathetic. I can't even kill the dragoness that destroyed my life. And look at me now, saved by none other than her."

Cynder looked at him. "Why are you doing this Crombe?"

Crombe cracked. It was just so much easier to lie to yourself. But he couldn't do it anymore.

"I-I…I just wanted someone to blame. I needed someone to blame. They didn't have to die…"

"I'm sorry, Crombe. I was under the control of Malefor at the time. I had no control over my actions. I can't bring your parents back. But what you can do on the other hand is live your life. Don't waste your time moping and plotting revenge. Live the life your parents sacrificed themselves for. You will honour them better that way."

"Malefor's dead…isn't he?"

Cynder smiled. "Yes, Crombe; we defeated him. I'm sorry for taking your chance in revenge. I was first in line."

Crombe smiled. For the first time, he felt free from the burden he had put upon himself. He proceeded to pull Cynder into a hug. "Thank you."

Cynder on the other hand, albeit surprised, returned the hug. "You're welcome."

0 = 0 = 0

It was a very confusing set of emotions.

He was sad. He was angry. He was grieving. He was depressed.

With all the emotions he was conveying, it was like he was trying to win an Oscar award with his performance but he clearly won't since he wasn't the main character in this story. Regardless, Crombe didn't know what to do with himself. The idea of taking revenge was laid to rest a long time ago in the past. He had fully accepted the notion that Malefor was dead and his parents were already avenged for him. But apparently he wasn't. It was complicated. He was still unsure of what to make of his emotions.

"Hey."

Crombe's train of thought was broken as someone came up to him. It was Flame. "You okay?"

He shook his head. "I don't know."

Flame patted him in the back. "I understand what you're going through. If you ever need someone to talk to, I'm here for you."

The earth dragon let out a small smile. "Thanks, I'll remember that."

"Come on you two," said the dragon behind them. It was Spyro. "Let's get to class."

0

He hummed to himself as he began reading through a rather thick looking tome filled with writings of dragons of past. The subject dealt with the proper breathing technique to easily master unleashing one's inner element. He was going to teach this in his next class so he needed a refresher. He grabbed a scroll at the side and slowly began taking personal notes. A few feet from him was another dragon, lounging at the pillows, a scroll in his paws. His face seemed calm as he read the scroll before him but his body language said otherwise. His tail was erratic, slapping the floor with a gentle but irritating thud. He tried to ignore it at first but the rhythmic tapping was breaking his concentration.

"Terrador!" he called out, glaring at the dragon, "would you please stop that annoying tail slapping!"

The Earth Guardian was caught off guard by the sudden hostility but he understood where he was coming from. "Sorry. I'm just nervous."

The dragon's brow rose. Placing the scroll down he turned to face his companion, "Okay. What's seems to be on your mind?"

"It's about two things really."

"Let me take a wild guess: is it about Zaze and Crombe?"

Terrador blinked. "Am I that easily read, Volteer?"

The Electric Guardian chuckled as he shook his head. "No. It was just easy to guess."

"I take it you know what I am worried about?"

"You told me before—Crombe's history—I say we just monitor them warily. We talk to them and we'll go from there."

"Talk to them? You mean I'll talk to Crombe and you'll talk to Zaze?"

Volteer nodded. "Why not? It'll be more appropriate, right?"

"I guess. I'm just worried about these two," replied Terrador.

"The fallout?"

"Yes. I'm just nervous that one of them may do some drastic."

Volteer rubbed his temples thoughtfully. Terrador was right. "True, Zaze isn't exactly at the right state of mind at the moment and the recent events may have reopened old wounds for Crombe. The best thing we can do is be there for them, and try not to stress them out any further."

"Agreed."

Volteer looked at Terrador. "…So?"

"So what?"

"You mentioned you were bothered by two things. What's the other one?" he asked.

Terrador thought for a moment then remembered that he did mention that. "Oh…that…well…" he trailed.

Volteer's brow rose. This should be interesting, he thought to himself.

"I was just wondering…" Terrador said, scratching his chin. "I need your opinion."

"On what?'

"It's about Bele."

"Decibele?" Volteer confirmed.

Terrador nodded. "Yes, her."

"Didn't she leave the other day?" he asked rhetorically. "Did you two have a fight?"

0

"Good evening, Master Cyril," a student greeted.

"Good evening to you too."

The Ice Guardian walked down the halls of the temple with his head held high. He had just finished teaching the last class he had for the day. But instead of being happy for it, he had something bigger on his plate. His mind was heavy with the recent events that had transpired in the temple. He stood out at the balcony, silently pondering his thoughts as he looked at the city of Warfang. The moon was shining down brightly at him against the inky black backdrop accompanied by stars twinkling at the distance.

"Cyril?" a voice came. "Didn't expect to see you here."

The Ice Guardian turned his head to find a fellow Guardian walking up to him. It was the Fire Guardian, Flare. "I for one am surprised as well."

The dragoness looked at him. "I sense something is troubling you. What is it, if you don't mind me asking?"

Cyril let out a sigh as he glanced at his companion. "I'm just wondering…if what we did is enough."

"In regards to what?"

"Vouching for Zaze," he answered.

Flare nodded, understanding what he was saying. "There's not much we can do, Cyril. You have to understand that."

"I know. It's just that, I feel bad." He looked at her. "Is this all we can do?"

"Honestly," she shrugged. "I don't know. But I think it is. It's not easy dealing with something you don't normally encounter. I don't think our ancestors ever had to deal with the circumstance such as we are in now."

"Good point."

"And besides, we all know who Zaze is," she said confidently. "Even with the recent development, it's just who he was. Who he is, is what's important." Cyril nodded. Flare's wise words were right. There was no point clinging to the past. It was the past for a reason. It came and went. What mattered was now. Somehow, Cyril could relate.

"His depression isn't something easily fixed however," said Flare. "All we can do now is to be there for him."

"True," replied Cyril. "He was there when we needed him."

Zaze was the one responsible for the relationship he had now with Alyssa. Without Zaze, things would have probably gone messy. Likewise to Flare and his relationship with Volteer; it seems a lot of things wouldn't have been made possible if he wasn't in the picture.

"Now it's our turn."

"But there's something that I don't understand, Cyril. Why is Zaze still colored yellow? Or at the very lease have full purple colors to him." Flare asked.

Cyril shook his head. "We're not sure ourselves. But Alyssa had a theory after understanding the entire situation and it seemed reasonable enough when she told me when I myself asked that question."

"What was the theory?"

"Malefor was the product of the Darkness taking over Maffrin completely. When he was defeated by Spyro and Cynder before, the Darkness's control on Malefor broke, splitting them apart: Zaze and Phase. Zaze was basically Maffrin minus the purple dragon attributes and his memories; all of that went to Phase."

"But now?"

"I suppose the case now is that, when Spyro, Cynder, Crombe and…" Cyril trailed a little, remembering the young dragoness.

"Latis," added Flare.

He nodded solemnly. "Yes. When the four of them managed to overpower and defeat the newly minted merging, Zaze managed to overcome Phase's dominance and take full control of his body."

"I see. Now it kind of makes sense," said Flare.

"True, the theory itself has holes. It doesn't explain why Zaze is half colored, instead of being fully purple colored. But that's why it's a theory. And right now, it's the most reasonable thing we have. Besides, what matters is that everyone is safe and sound."

"You do have a point," replied Flare. "We have two purple dragons now. I never thought I'd live to see the day that happened."

"You and me both; but there are a lot of things out there we do not know," said Cyril. "Which is why I've been busy reading in my spare time."

"About what?"

"About what other things the Ancients have dealt with that we may have to deal with ourselves."

* * *

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	4. Chapter 4 Advice

**Disclaimer: I own nothing except my characters and the story itself. Other canon characters are owned by their respective companies.**

**Exclaimer: To people who don't like the story, just don't read it.**

* * *

Chapter 4

Advice

"So, how was the day for you?" Flame asked, attempting to start a conversation with Zaze; the purple-ish dragon shrugged in response, "It was okay."

The two dragons were at the dining hall, about to have lunch. It was another day that didn't seem to matter to Zaze. Like all the other days. It was beginning to blur for him. He was hungry but he had to control himself. They were just currently waiting for their friends to arrive.

"I think it's for the best that things are getting back to normal around here."

"Probably."

Flame groaned inwardly, he'd never thought he'd be having trouble getting Zaze to carry a conversation. "How are you holding up?" he continued.

Zaze sighed. "Look Flame," he said looking at the fire dragon. "I appreciate that you're trying to help me, but I really don't want to talk right now okay. I just want the others to get here so we can eat and then I can leave."

The dragon blinked, surprised at the response that he got. "Oh, okay then." He diverted his eyes from the noticeably irritated dragon.

The fire dragon decided it was best not to push his friend at the moment and chose to just sit quietly and look around while they waited. He glanced at the other tables; dragons were still swapping stories about their various deeds during the grublin attacks, laughing and joking now that the threat had passed. Some still gave wary glances to Zaze but they were few and far in between. Flame turned back to look at Zaze, he could barely recognize him as the optimistic electric dragon he was two weeks ago; disregarding the change in color his demeanor was far removed from what it once was. As Flame mused on this, their other friends arrived at the table.

Each of them received only a small nod and quiet greeting from Zaze.

Ember sat down next to Flame, moving closer to whisper, "How's he doing?"

He shook his head. "Not well."

Flame glanced over at his friend again, Zaze was looking down at the table, refusing to take any part in the conversation the others were having. His friend had certainly changed, the old Zaze would be acting just like all the other dragons in the dining hall, happy and carefree; this Zaze just seemed tired… defeated. He turned back to face Ember; the two of them would never have started dating if it weren't for Zaze. Flame made a silent promise to himself at that moment; he was going to help Zaze get through this, he owed his friend that much. For now though, it was clear that there was nothing he could do, that would get a reaction from Zaze, and so he turned to start a conversation with the others seated at the table.

"So Crombe," The fire dragon began."That was some impressive flying you did back in class."

Crombe shifted in his seat and smiled slightly, "Thanks,"

"How'd you learn to do that?" Flame continued. "I mean no offense, but I never took you for much of a flyer."

He shrugged. "Same way I learnt to do almost everything; reading scrolls at the old temple."

"I should really look at those scrolls sometime," Flame said, offhandedly.

"You should." Crombe admitted. "That'll help you with your problems in class."

He groaned. "Don't remind me."

"By the way, I got you those books you wanted, Crombe," added Sparx. "Why do you need them anyway?"

"To study?" he asked rhetorically.

"Do you seriously need to learn Dragon Physiology and Elemental Control?"

The dragon shrugged. "I need to distract myself. Reading is the best way for me to do it."

"Distract you from what?" Flame asked.

The dragon stopped in his actions momentarily. Flame got the gist that there was something there. "It's none of your business," he answered. He then turned to face Sparx, "Where'd you place the books?"

"At the counter at the library—you owe me for those. I nearly got crushed by them!"

"Thanks."

And with that, the earth dragon took off leaving the group to their lunch.

"What's up with him?" asked Spyro.

Ember shrugged. "I get the feeling he's avoiding us."

"That's not new," Cynder replied. "Wasn't he like that before?"

"Well, yeah, but still, Crombe has changed."

Spyro nodded. "True. He talks to us. That's an improvement."

Zaze cleared his throat. "I'm heading out now. See you all in class."

"See you later, Zaze!" said Sparx. When he got out of earshot, the dragonfly turned around and frowned. "You guys seriously need to talk to him."

"We know," said Spyro. "It's just that Zaze is…" He trailed trying to find the right words.

"It's just that Zaze is in a very delicate situation right now," said Ember.

"We're not really sure how to approach it, Sparx," said Ember. "We're trying our best though. I'm personally looking for that perfect moment to reach out to him."

"You know what," said Flame. Everyone glanced at him, hearing the hopeful tone in his voice. "I'm going to talk to him; right after class."

"Need some help?" Spyro asked.

The dragon shook his head. "I got this. I think you should talk to Crombe however. I think something's bothering him."

"We'll do it right after class then."

0 = 0 = 0

"Terrador," she looked at him seriously, "I'll be leaving for a few days to meet with my family."

"Huh—why?"

"We'll be going to my grandmother's grave site. It's the anniversary of the day my grandmother died," Decibele said in a morbid tone.

"Let me come with you," Terrador replied reflexively. "I'm sure you could use the extra comfort."

"NO!" Decibele suddenly snapped. Then she immediately fixed herself seeing Terrador's expression. "I mean…it's not like I don't want you to be there. It's just that my grandmother had strong beliefs about family. So this is a family affair. And since we aren't officially mates…" She avoided his gaze. She thought it would be easier explaining this to him, but she found her maw drying a little. It was probably from the nervousness. Terrador placed a paw up to Decibele's maw to silence her, "It's alright I understand. Now go on and meet with your family."

She smiled and thanked him for his understanding. Giving him a tender lick at the cheek, she turned and took off to the skies, heading towards the direction of where they lived.

That event had happened a few days ago. Decibele still wasn't around and Terrador found himself fidgeting in the space of her absence. The time alone he was given gave him a lot of chances to think—mainly his relationship with Decibele. It was…complicated, if he were to put it in words. He wasn't sure himself what 'they' were. They had history; they were the best of friends that had a falling out but got reunited again thanks to the help of a certain electric dragon. And from there, things just…developed. But they never really acknowledged it. And that was what was making Terrador anxious. He wasn't sure if Decibele was actually committed to this 'thing' they had going on with each other, that it was just a onetime fling. He wasn't even sure there was a 'thing' in the first place and maybe it was just the hopeless, first-timer romantic in him imagining it. Decibele was making it hard for him to read the situation. And so, the Earth Guardian did the most natural and logical thing he needed to do and that was consult a friend.

"You mentioned you were bothered by two things. What's the other one?" he asked.

Terrador thought for a moment then remembered that he did mention that. "Oh…that…well…" he trailed.

Volteer's brow rose. This should be interesting, he thought to himself.

"I was just wondering…" Terrador said, scratching his chin. "I need your opinion."

"On what?'

"It's about Bele."

"Decibele?" Volteer confirmed.

Terrador nodded. "Yes, her."

"Didn't she leave the other day?" he asked rhetorically. "Did you two have a fight?"

"No, no we didn't. It's not like that," he clarified.

"Then what?"

"I'm just…" Terrador had a hard time trying to find the right words to describe what he felt, "confused at our situation."

Volteer composed himself. This was apparently more serious than he thought. "Okay, what seems to be the problem?" he asked, adopting the tone of a therapist.

It took a moment for Terrador to answer but when he did, his voice took a serious tone, "I'm worried that Decibele and I—this relationship we have—is just a onetime thing."

The Electric Guardian was a taken aback at the words of his friend. Worrying about relationships was the last thing he imagined his friend would be worrying about. He wasn't exactly sociable in his mind. "Have you told her your feelings yet?"

Terrador looked down. "That's what I'm worried about. I'm worried that she isn't thinking of commitment. I love her, but…" the earth dragon looked defeated. "I'm not sure she loves me the same way back." He then shook his head, "No. I haven't told her yet about my true feelings."

Volteer tapped his claws gently on the table. "Then you should. That's the only way for you to know."

"Is it?" Terrador asked. The expression on his face surprised Volteer. This was probably the first time he ever saw the dragon legitimately scared. "I-I don't think I can do it."

"You can do it, Terrador," he encouraged, "You've faced numerous dangers, fought for your life and you're saying you can't do THIS?" Volteer looked him in the eye. "This should be easy for you."

Terrador nodded, taking in his friend's advice. He didn't like it, but it was definitely advice. What was mainly stopping him however, were the memories of the past. The last time he confessed, it didn't exactly go well. It ended up destroying the relationship he had with his most trusted friends and even hurting one of them—physically. It humiliated and traumatized him. Having a repeat of that, he wasn't sure if he could handle it. He thanked Volteer for his wise words and decided to change the topic.

"So…how are you and Flare?"

Volteer smiled. "We're doing well actually." Then his expression changed. "Although I do have some concerns of my own."

"Do tell."

The Electric Guardian seemed a little reluctant at telling but he eventually gave in. "Terrador, I need you to be honest with me." Terrador's brow rose at the statement. "Do you think I'd make a good father figure?"

Terrador scratched his chin as he put on a thoughtful face. "I could be honest to you as a friend, and I could be honest to you as a fellow Guardian. Which is the one do you want to hear?"

"Both. I trust your judgment."

"In that case, as a friend, I've known you for a long time now; even before you hooked up with Flare. In those times I've come to known that you are a great and dependable dragon. A bit talkative," Volteer chuckled, "but a great dragon to have around. As a fellow Guardian however," Terrador cleared his voice taking on a more serious tone. "I do believe you'd be great. You're responsible and do your duties well. You get the job done, like what is expected of you. But then comes the harder question; having a fellow mate is understandable, but you do know that having a hatchling is strongly discouraged as the responsibilities you bear will cut into the time you have with your family. Don't you?"

Volteer sighed and thought of the consequences of his decision. He thanked Terrador's honest answers and took a moment to think. Flare had been dropping hints of wanting to have a family for the past few times they've spent with each other which prompted him to have such thoughts. He never thought of himself as a father. But if he were, the right time would be now. Peace was evident everywhere. And the only Guardian responsibility he had to attend to was teaching the young ones. He had been a Guardian for a long time. He had his fair share of action and close calls. Maybe settling down was the right choice. But if he were to do so, a successor was to follow.

He nodded. "Yes, I do know Terrador." His smile then turned to a playful smirk. "But we're old now."

Terrador let out a gentle laugh. "Speak for yourself!"

"The point is we've been Guardians for a long time now. You, me, Cyril and even our late friend Igntius; our days are behind us. I think it's time for us to step down."

"I take it you already have someone in mind as a possible successor?"

Volteer beamed. "He was already a prime candidate to begin with."

* * *

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	5. Chapter 5 Class Activity

**Disclaimer: I own nothing except my characters and the story itself. Other canon characters are owned by their respective companies.**

**Exclaimer: To people who don't like the story, just don't read it.**

* * *

Chapter 5

Class Activity

"All you have to do is take a deep breath," he watched as everyone followed his instructions obediently, "and focus your elemental energy to your maw. Then once you have it there, just let it all out with everything you've got."

Volteer followed up the demonstration by personally doing it himself. He took a deep breath and channeled all his elemental energy. He had done this almost a million times already; this was easy for him. Opening his maw, he unleashed a blast of electricity that arced across the room and hit his target square in the chest. The training dummy never stood a chance. The electric current fried the object, burning it completely.

Volteer grinned, happy with his demonstration. "Like so." Everyone was in awe and clearly was revved up in doing the lesson for the day. "Alright then; I want you all to start practicing this and I'll come over to each of you individually and see how you all are doing. Get to it then."

Everyone began to their practices, going to their space of the Training Dojo and practicing the elemental breathing technique they were just taught. Volteer watched as the young dragons tried to burn the training dummies but ended up not doing anything at all. It stood there, mockingly at them, pushing them to strive harder. The sounds of electricity, fire, ice and earth elements echoed across the room as they practiced more and more. He glanced to his left and saw Spyro, Crombe and Cynder having an easy time with the lessons.

"You know, I never thought you were supposed to do that," said Spyro standing in front the dummy.

"The breathing technique?" Cynder asked, seating herself on the sideline.

Spyro nodded before proceeding to unleash a torrent of fire at the dummy. The dummy got engulfed in fire, leaving nothing but dust in its position. A new dummy instantly materialized before it, ready to take another beating.

"My turn," said Cynder happily. She skipped over to Spyro's position who gladly switched places with her. Focusing her element, she decided to let out a blast of acidic poison which easily dealt with the training dummy.

"This isn't really much of a challenge," said Crombe sitting down. He even let out a bored yawn.

Volteer wasn't surprised however at three's progress. They were already well versed in these basic dragon techniques. He even noticed some of other dragons who looked at them with a bit of jealousy in their eyes. No doubt they were wondering why the two dragons made it look so easier than it really was. His thoughts however were interrupted when he felt someone tapping his tail.

"Yes?" he asked, turning around. It was one of his electric dragon students.

"Master Volteer, why is Spyro and Cynder in this class?"

The question caught him of guard. "W-what do you mean?"

The electric dragon shrugged. "I mean, don't they already know most of the stuff you'll be teaching us?"

"That is true," he answered, "but it never hurts to reinforce what you've already learn. And besides, wouldn't you want to learn from the legends themselves?"

The dragon smiled, nodding at the statement. But then his expression shifted as a thought entered his head. "But what about…" his tone shifted as he took a careful glance behind them, "him?"

Volteer looked to where he was looking and saw what he was referring to. At the far corner of the room, was none other than Zaze. He was sitting alone, just watching the others practice idly. The Guardian had to admit, he looked rather creepy the way he just stared at them with a flat expression, but he knew that Zaze meant no harm. The other dragons avoided him and some even gave him weary looks. And their caution was understandable.

"Zaze doesn't mean any harm," said Volteer. Then an idea came into his head. Zaze needed someone to talk to. "Why don't you go over and talk to him?"

The dragon blinked, visibly looking scared at the prospect. "B-but he's going to hurt me!"

The Guardian shook his head. "He won't hurt you. I can promise you that."

"But isn't he the Dark Master?" he asked, looking back again over his shoulder. Zaze the purple dragon looked over the room and even gave a lethargic yawn. He was clearly quite bored. Not exactly the most intimidating looking dragon.

"He was, young dragon, was. He isn't now. He deserves to be treated as such."

The dragon thought for a moment then decided for himself. "Alright, I guess I can go and talk—

"Talk to whom?"

The dragon jumped and instinctively hid behind Volteer, the Guardian laughing gently at his reaction. Zaze stood in front of them with a curious smirk on his face.

Volteer greeted the dragon with a warm smile. "Hello Zaze, what brings you to me?"

"I couldn't help but overhear your conversation," he replied nonchalantly. His eyes then darted to the electric dragon behind Volteer who quickly avoided his gaze. "Are you referring dragons to talk to me now?"

Volteer cocked his head to the side with a knowing smile. "Maybe; it seems to be working because I finally got you talking again."

Zaze had to admit. He had a point. This was probably the first time in the past few days he held a conversation properly. "Volteer, when you have the time…can we…talk in private?" he asked, his voice almost lowering to a whisper. The electric dragon behind Volteer had to strain his ears to hear them correctly, but even then he didn't get the most of it.

"Anytime."

"Thanks." Zaze smiled then changed the topic. "So who's the dragon who apparently wanted to talk to me?"

Volteer side stepped, exposing the smaller dragon behind him. The dragon laughed half sheepishly and half nervously, noticing the straight stare he was getting from Zaze. "H-hello…" he meekly greeted.

"What's your name?" Zaze asked, watching the dragon's movements with his eyes.

"Trax," he replied.

"Well, Trax, I'm a harmless dragon," he said calmly. "Volteer, Spyro and the others have vouched for me, so you have nothing to worry about."

Trax still gave him a weary look but nonetheless visibly relaxed. "So you're not going to hurt me then?"

"Why would I even want to hurt you?" he asked rhetorically. "If I did however," Volteer—who had been idly listening in on the conversation—wondered where Zaze was going with this. In a blink of an eye, Zaze disappeared in front of them, shocking Trax.

"Whoa! Where'd he go!?"

"It would be so easy."

Trax jumped, surprised to find Zaze standing right beside him all of a sudden. "Wait—but you were—huh?"

"Zaze," Volteer said, looking at him. "You're scaring him."

"Okay, okay, I'll back off," Zaze said walking on front of them again.

"How did you do that!?" Trax asked enthusiastically. He then turned to face Volteer and blurted out, "Will you teach us how to do that?"

"Maybe, Trax, maybe; but right now, we need to focus back on class."

"Aww…"

Volteer then turned his attention back to Zaze. "Since you seem so keen on demonstrating your ability, why don't you start it off?"

"No problem. I need a distraction anyway."

0

A few minutes later, the class was situated at the edge of the training dojo. The task was explained and the reward for finishing it was that once done you're allowed to leave. What they were needed to do was move themselves around a group of electric hoops—in the air—summoned by Volteer whilst hitting targets on the ground as fast and accurate as possible. It didn't seem hard. But they will soon find out that it was a lot harder than it looked. With a confident smile, Zaze stepped forward to the center of the room. Everyone's eyes were on him.

Trax found himself seated next to Spyro and Cynder. "He's awfully confident."

Spyro chuckled. "That's Zaze for you, never down for a challenge." He then looked at Trax and said, "You were talking with him earlier, right?"

"I was."

"What do you think of him?"

Trax's brow rose. "Uh…" he thought for a moment, "he seems…nice, I guess. Playful, for sure—he teleported behind me to play a prank! Did you know he could do that!?"

Zaze was playing pranks now? Spyro thought making him smile. Zaze's old self was beginning to show. "I do."

"Can you do that?" Trax asked with genuine curiosity.

The purple dragon shook his head making Trax looked a bit disappointed. Spyro then threw him a cool fact, "I can slow down time though."

It worked. Trax looked like his mind was just blown.

"Hate to interrupt you boys, but I think Zaze is starting. Let's see how he goes," said Cynder.

Volteer looked at Zaze and told him he was ready when he was. Closing his eyes, he took a deep breath and gave an approving nod. Taking that as the go signal, the Electric Guardian started off the task by summoning an electric ring above him, followed by other rings that circled around the air. Zaze jumped, spreading his wings and taking flight. Left, right, up and down, Zaze easily weaved through the easier part of the exercise—which involved him having to fly through the hoops. The challenging part was hitting the targets on the ground. Dummies appeared on the ground in sync with him passing through the hoops. With quick reflexes, Zaze whipped around and shot small lightning bolts that hit the dummies perfectly. Everyone watched in awe as he didn't miss a beat, and didn't miss a dummy. He was on a roll. Even as he flew through the hoops upside down, he still hit everything. With the last ring in sight, he took a dive and passed through it seamlessly, landing on the floor gracefully.

Everyone—particularly the students—were amazed at the display and left speechless. Volteer on the other paw already saw this coming and wasn't all that impressed. He would have been impressed if Zaze actually failed. Zaze walked over to him, shaking it off like it was nothing.

"Great job as always, Zaze," he said smiling at him. "You may go now, if you wish."

"Alright then; see you later." And with that, the purple dragon left the room as the other students took their turn.

"Did you see what he did!?" Trax asked as another dragon took their turn.

"Yes, we did. We were here with you," Crombe replied flatly.  
"I wish I could do that…" said Trax.

"It's not that hard to do…" Spyro then looked at the dragon, "what was your name again?"

"Trax."

"Like I said, it's not that hard to do, Trax. Everyone can do it."

The electric dragon shook his head. "That's easy for you to say. You're a legend. Me, well…" the dragon looked down, "I'm nobody."

"With that attitude you'll stay like that." Trax looked to the source of the voice. It was Crombe. He was looking at the current student doing the task with a half bored look. "You don't have to be special in order to do something special."

Crombe then stood up and walked over to Volteer as the current student just finished doing the task. Trax turned his head, a curious expression on his face.

"Who was that?"

Cynder was the one who answered. "That was Crombe; a good friend of ours."  
"Is he good?"

"I think I'd rather let you see him perform than answer that question," replied Cynder with a smile.

Time passed and eventually it was the two dragon's turn. Spyro and Cynder found the task moderately challenging. They missed a few targets on their individual trials but Volteer let it slide. Getting a perfect was best, but missing a few was better than nothing. The important thing was that they got through the hoops. The other students however, had problems of their own. Some missed time the flap of their wings and it got clipped as they passed through the hoops, causing them to crash down the floor. Some managed to do it, but not hit any target at all, earning them a frustrated sigh from Volteer. Trax was one of them and he wasn't all too proud of his run. He was so certain he could hit them too. Others just fell flat on their face. Not flying through any hoops, and missing completely.

Then came, Crombe; Volteer cracked out a smile, knowing that at least, the chain of failures would be broken.

Trax watched curiously as to how the dragon would perform. Coincidentally enough, Crombe was the last to take the trial. Everyone was already down in the dumps; sad that they weren't successful in their run so they pretty much labeled Crombe to fail already from the get go. But they were about to be proven wrong.

* * *

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	6. Chapter 6 New and Old Faces

**Disclaimer: I own nothing except my characters and the story itself. Other canon characters are owned by their respective companies.**

**Exclaimer: To people who don't like the story, just don't read it.**

* * *

Chapter 6

New and Old Faces

The massive Earth Guardian sat at the entrance of the Warfang Dragon Temple. The younger dragons that passed by gave him a pleasant greeting—which he returned them as well—as they continued on to their destinations, clearly wondering why the dragon was loitering. Surely someone as important as Terrador had matters to attend to. The dragon sat there, watching the skies, waiting. With each moment that ticked by, his nervousness began to rise. He tapped the floor with his claw trying to divert his attention but it didn't really do all that much. He couldn't sit still. Worry was beginning to well up inside him the more he waited. Today was the day she was supposed to be back. But she wasn't.

"Where is she…?" he asked himself, hoping that an answer would arrive.

No sooner than he did so, it was as if the Ancestors answered his prayers. Over the horizon he could see a small speck that grew larger as it drew nearer to him. He let out a sigh of relief as the sight of the familiar color of scales registered in his eyes. She was finally back, safe and sound. But something was off. He managed to see that she wasn't alone. He had to rub his eyes and looked again more closely to make sure that the sun wasn't playing tricks on him. He had been waiting there for a long time and scanning the horizon for any signs of them. Confirming that it was real and not an image of his imagination, he began to wander who the newcomers were. She didn't mention bringing anyone with her. The first to land was Decibele followed by—Terrador assumed—a family of three, two adults and a young dragon respectively. He noted that the father was a fire dragon and the mother was an ice dragoness. Their daughter inherited the father's element. The parents felt familiar to Terrador, like he had seen them before. Decibele folded her wings to her body and walked over to Terrador.

"It's good to see you again, Bele," Terrador said with a smile, "and I see you've brought guests." He gave them another look, trying to see where the resemblance was coming from.

"I apologize for my bluntness. But I must ask you two. Have we met somewhere before?" Terrador asked.

The fire dragon was the first to speak, "I suppose it has been a while since we've seen each other."

"Actually, I was only able to recognize you from that smile you gave Decibele," the ice dragoness added.

Terrador could only cock his head in confusion. The feeling of familiarity was gnawing at his head. "Haven't you figured it out yet, Terry?" Decibele said, finally breaking her silence. A playful grin crossed her face as she stood next to Terrador and motioned to the family.

"It's our friends from when we went to school: Nox and Glacilynn."

Terrador's expression went from puzzled to shock, his smile leaving his face. Although he had already forgiven them for what had happened in the past, there was still a part of him that had trouble letting go. Nox and Glace saw Terrador's expression and thought that he wasn't happy to see them.

"Maybe we should just go," Nox looked dejected. He would understand if his old friend didn't ever want to see him again.

Terrador hesitated for a moment before reacting. "Wait!"

Nox and Glace stopped and look back towards Terrador. "I'm sorry for coming across like that. The anger is hard to forget." Terrador looked at them sincerely and said, "But I have forgiven you. I believe that the best way to get rid of this feeling of awkwardness between us is to get reacquainted. And I feel that the best way for us to rebuild our friendship is if I ask you to stay here and rest."

Nox and Glace smiled back at Terrador and accepted his offer.

"Well then, why don't we head inside?" Decibele said cheerfully.

0

"Okay, Volteer told us to breathe in, right?"

"Yeah."

"Am I doing it right then?"

"Uh…" the dragon shook her head. "I'm not sure. Are you?"

"Come on Aurora! You're supposed to be helping me! Not making things worse!"  
The dragoness shrugged out frustration. "I don't know if it's right either! Get off my case Shay."

The ice dragoness turned her head and saw that another dragon was approaching them. "Surprised to see you're still alive."

"Ha ha, very funny." The dragon looked at his friends and saw that they were having a hard time with the activity. "For once, my run was better than Shaylus'."

"Shut up, Trax!" The dragoness snapped. "You're not helping me."

"So, how come you're still here yet you talked with him?" Aurora asked.

Trax shrugged. "Apparently, Zaze is harmless. Volteer seems to think so."

Aurora's brow rose. Clearly she wasn't convinced. "Hey guys."

"What is it, Steppe?" Trax asked looking at the earth dragon.

"Who is that?" He pointed to an earth dragon that turned out to be the last dragon to take on the activity.

"Oh, that's Crombe. Cynder seems to think he's good."

"Really?" Shaylus asked, sitting next to her friends. She finally gave up on doing the breathing exercise. She just couldn't do it right. "He doesn't seem special."

"She told me to just watch before I say anything. So I say, why not? Right?"

Aurora scoffed. "Oh please, he'll just fall flat on his face. Just like all of us," she said pessimistically.

Steppe on the other paw just watched eagerly, curious as to how this earth dragon seemed to have gotten the vote of confidence from Spyro and Cynder.

Everyone expected Crombe to fail, given the string of failures after Zaze, Spyro and Cynder. The activity wasn't hard, nor was it easy. It was challenging, definitely. But it wasn't something that could easily be done right of the bat. The three dragons mentioned were excluded from the labeling given their status. But then again, the students didn't know who Crombe was, and what he could do. So it was a surprise to everyone when Crombe pulled it off perfectly.

"You guys…you guys saw that right?" Trax asked, flabbergasted. He looked at Crombe as if seeing him in a new light. He thought Cynder was just being a good friend earlier and didn't want to ruin Crombe's image. But the merits were well earned. He was good.

"Wow…" Steppe's eyes were the size of plates. "I wish I could do that."

"Who is this dragon?" Shaylus asked eyeing the earth dragon who was now talking to Volteer.

Spyro and Cynder on the other paw discreetly excused themselves from class. Volteer saw them from the corner of his eye and nodded as they exited the room. He then turned his head to look at Crombe who looked half bored.

"Too easy?"

Crombe shrugged. "It was fair."

"You don't have to lie to me, Crombe."

"Okay, fine, it was too easy, happy? And that's not me bragging, mind you."

Volteer smiled. "That's what I like to hear; honest comments." He then turned around to address everybody else who seemed to have crowded around them. "Since he's the last one, class is dismissed."

Volteer excused himself as everyone else seemed rather interested in getting to know Crombe. It was no surprise however, given how he was the only one—aside from Zaze, Spyro and Cynder—to easily pass the activity with flying colors. Everyone was curious to know who this special 'normal' dragon was.

"Dude, that was amazing! How did you do that?" said one dragon.

"I've never seen anyone do such a thing before. Who did you say you were again?" asked another.

Crombe just sighed. The last thing he wanted right now was company. He wanted to be alone. But he wasn't one to be rude. He was better than that.

"My name's Crombe," he answered. "Now if you'll excuse me, I like to be alone."

And with that, Crombe walked away leaving the other dragons watching him curiously.

"Quiet one, isn't he?"

"He is. But did you see what he did!?"

"I know!"

"He's kind of cute. I like him."

The remaining dragons began to chit chatter amongst themselves, recalling the actions that Crombe displayed before them.

"Cute?" Aurora snorted. "I've seen better."

Trax puffed his chest out proudly. "Like me?"

At the same time, Aurora and Shaylus glanced at him and shook their heads in unison. "No."

Steppe just chuckled at the teasing the girls were doing to Trax. The dragon on the other hand was not amused. "What? For real! You don't want a piece of this?"

Shaylus blanched. Aurora looked like she was about to vomit. "I'd rather have Zaze, than you. And that's saying a lot."

Trax frowned and looked away. He wasn't dealing with any of this. Steppe on the other paw just patted him on the shoulder.

"So, what are you guys going to do in the meantime?"

Shaylus smirked. "I think I'm going to go check out Zaze."

As if on cue, all the other three dragons looked at her as if she was crazy.

"Shay," Aurora looked at her seriously. "I was only joking. You do know that right?"

The dragoness nodded. "I do."

"Then why on earth are you going to go check out Zaze?"

Shaylus looked at her friend as if she was the one talking crazy. "What? I can't go talk to him?"

"He's dangerous!"

"He hasn't hurt anyone."

"Yet!" Aurora sighed seeing the determined look on her face. "You're not going to change your mind, are you?"

The dragoness shook her head, feeling happy that she was one this argument. Aurora however wasn't giving up just yet. She turned her head to look at other two males. "Guys? Help?"

"Help with what?" Trax was grinning mischievously. "I thought you said you wanted Zaze."

Aurora just rolled her eyes. They weren't any help. She turned around and quickly followed after Shaylus who was now leaving the Training Dojo.

"Keep her safe!" Trax shouted at them. Once they were out of the room, he turned to face Steppe. "Well, what are we going do?"

Steppe shrugged. "I don't know about you, but I've got homework to deal with."

Trax groaned. "You're no fun, you know that?"

"Hey, some us actually want to succeed in life."

"And I want to be Volteer's successor!" Trax reasoned, looking at his friend seriously. "I have dreams too, Steppe. But you need to take a break."

"Speak for yourself. You of all dragons know full well that you aren't going to be chosen as a Guardian Candidate with the skillset you have."

Trax reeled back, surprised at the frankness in Steppe's words. He glanced down the floor, wanting to avert his eyes from his friend's gaze. "I know that," he mumbled.

"Then you should fix it, Trax. Dreams won't become a reality by themselves."

Trax looked down the floor, Steppe's words echoing in his head. Even as his friend bid him farewell, he remained standing there, lost in his thoughts. It was true that he wanted to be a Guardian. Ever since he saw one of them when he was a hatchling, he immediately wanted to be one himself. Unfortunately, the road to becoming a Guardian was a lot harder than he thought. It wasn't as simple as mastering one or two techniques. It involved mastering them all, and being able to execute all of them perfectly at a moment's notice. And that wasn't even the hard part. He needed to come up with his own technique or learn how to use a weapon. Both were hard in their own rights.

Trax sighed as he began walking. Maybe his dream would be nothing but that

0

Terrador found himself twiddling his paws as he sat across the family of dragons. He had invited them inside and now they were resting in the Guardians' Room. It was empty being that the other Guardians had classes to attend to. Decibele sat beside him and was chatting animatedly with their old time friends.

"First let's start off with introductions." Nox turned his head and motioned to the young dragoness in the room. "This little girl here is Frei, our daughter."

"H-Hi," the dragoness said rather meekly.

Her mother chuckled. "Frei is a little shy when meeting dragons she doesn't know. But once you get to know her, she's really friendly." Terrador felt his heart sink at the idea.

Decibele noticed the crestfallen expression on the earth dragon. "Are you okay, Terry?"

"It's nothing." He shook his head, dismissing the sad thoughts. "I think I'm just a little jealous because I used to dream that that would be my daughter."

Hearing the statement, tears welled up in Frei's eyes. "What did he mean by that? Were you gonna put me up for adoption? Did you not want me?!" Frei cried.

The four adults laughed at the misunderstanding. Frei however still looked distressed. "No, it's nothing like that. You see…" Nox glanced at Terrador who nodded his head. "When we were back in school, Terrador here used to have a crush on your mother; so what he meant was that he always dreamed that he would be the one to have a child with your mother."

"So that means…" Frei said, finally calming down.

Glace smiled warmly at her daughter and gave her a loving pat on the head. "It means that you were never going to be put up for adoption."

"Why don't you go out and meet some of the students around here…if that's okay that is?" Nox asked, looking at Terrador.

The Earth Guardian smiled. "Of course it is. Go and make some new friends."

The young fire dragon smiled and took off with a skip in her step. She seemed excited exploring new territory. After Frei left, the conversation continued.

Terrador scratched his chin. "I'm curious to know, how did you two ended up here?"

"When we ran into Decibele," Glace began before being cut off by Nox.

"Technically, it was when Frei ran into her."

"Like I was saying…When Frei ran into Decibele, we went to get her and apologize for the accident. But when I saw who our daughter ran into, my reaction was: 'Decibele, is that you?' She then saw me and Nox and recognized us. That was when she asked us if we wanted to see you." Glace averted her eyes from Terrador's gaze. "We were both a little apprehensive about seeing you again, considering our past."

"I thought the idea was crazy," Nox added sheepishly.

"But Decibele explained that she saw you and that you had forgiven us for what had happened all those years ago. I convinced Nox that if it was true, then this may be the only chance we had to see you again." Glace explained as memories of the past began to resurface in her mind.

"And when Glace says she 'convinced' Nox, she means that she dragged him here by his tail." Decibele jokingly added, getting a laugh out of them all.

"Back to seriousness," Nox began after regaining his composure. "We can't stay for long. The invite was so sudden and unplanned that we just didn't have time to prepare for it."

"Well then," Terrador said as he looked at the two of them, "we best hurry. We have a lot of catching up to do."

* * *

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	7. Chapter 7 The Right Words

**Disclaimer: I own nothing except my characters and the story itself. Other canon characters are owned by their respective companies.**

**Exclaimer: To people who don't like the story, just don't read it.**

* * *

Chapter 7

The Right Words

"Great job as always, Zaze," Volteer said, smiling at him. "You may go now, if you wish."

"Alright then; see you later."

Zaze took off, stretching a little as he headed out of the Training Dojo. Getting out of class early was always a good thing, and he loved the free time he would have in his paws. He actually wanted to talk with Volteer, like he mentioned earlier. But the Guardian was still in class so that had to wait. The purple dragon wondered how to fill the time in between. He then decided to take a nap, resting under the shade of a tree at the Temple Grounds. The feel of the cool breeze was relaxing and it slowly lulled him to sleep.

"Isn't this nice?"

Zaze eyes snapped open, surprised at the voice. He turned his head to find a dragon resting behind the tree. It was a fire dragoness. "Uh…it is," he answered. This was new. This was the first time someone actually decided to go and sit next to him.

"I like it here. It's nice, cool and you can watch the clouds as they lazily go by." She then sat up and looked at Zaze. "My name's Frei. What's yours?"

"Uh…Zaze," the dragon answered, still feeling a little surprised at the contact. "Nice to meet you, Frei."

The dragoness smiled at him and laid back down the tree. Zaze followed suit. "Are you okay, Zaze?"

"Uh…yeah, why do you ask?" He honestly wanted to take a nap but he was curious as to where this was going.

"You were alone. Don't you have any friends?"

Zaze blinked. Who was this dragoness? Why was she even asking that question? Did she not know who he was? "I have friends. They're just not here at the moment."

"That's good to hear." He could feel her smiling just from hearing her. "Friends are always nice to have. They're there to cheer you up when you're down. Like you are now."

"How did you—"

"I could tell. You looked sad. That was why I decided to come and talk to you. You looked like you needed someone to talk to. What's bothering you, Zaze?"

Zaze was about to ask another question but then decided otherwise. The dragoness had a point. He did want someone to talk to. "A lot actually…"

"Like what?"

"I made a mistake." Zaze glanced up at the clouds and noted that they were in the shape of a dragon. Great, even the clouds seemed to want to constantly remind him of his mistakes in life. "A mistake that changed everything…" It was true. Realizing you were the Dark Master, being taken over the darkness that turned him into the Dark Master in the first place, attacking your very own friends against your will and then…Zaze's train of thought stopped. Each and every time he thought of that event, a place in his heart seemed to ache painfully as he relieved the moment that Latis died.

"There's no point in sticking in the past. What happened has happened. You can't change that."

Zaze's perked up at hearing the statement. "That is true." A smirk crept across his maw, as he relayed the words again in his head. It felt like he was hearing his own advice. "Did you by any chance here that from someone in particular, Frei?"

"My Dad," she answered. "He always told me how he himself made mistakes in the past. But then he realized no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't change them anymore. He had to live with the consequences of his actions." Frei sat up and turned her head to face the dragon. "I guess it just kind of stuck with me."

Zaze turned his head to look at the female dragon. "Thanks."

"For what?"

"For making me realize that it's best to just move on. There's nothing that I could really do but face the consequences of my actions. Moping won't help anyone."

Frei smiled. "Glad I could help, Zaze." The dragoness then stood up. "Well, I have to go. Nice talking with you."

"Thanks for the company!" Zaze waved his paw as the dragoness walked off. That was the first time he had ever met a dragoness named Frei; and that was the first time someone actually came to him and made him speak his thoughts. It felt…good. Talking really did help. It was a good idea to not bottle up the emotions. For the first time ever, Zaze felt like a huge weight was lifted off his chest and he could breathe easy again.

"Zaze?" A fire dragon approached him from the corner of his eye. "Were you…talking with that dragoness?"

He nodded. "I was, Flame. Why do you ask?"

The dragon looked flabbergasted. His eyes darted from Zaze to the path the fire dragoness took and then back to the purple dragon. "You were talking…" he said more to himself. "I was just curious." He answered, eyeing Zaze. "What were you talking about?"

Zaze shrugged. "Nothing really; she came over because she saw that I was lonely and said I needed company."

Flame's brow rose. "What's her name?"

"Frei."

"Well I'm glad you met this Frei character," said Flame cheerfully. "You're finally talking again!"

The purple dragon looked at him as if he was speaking nonsense. "What are you talking about? I always talk to you guys."

Now it was the fire dragon's turn to look at him as if he was crazy. "No you don't! All you do is moping around and act depressed! You brushed me off earlier today when I was trying to talk to you!" The dragon fumed a little, finally being able to speak his feelings. "This conversation is probably the longest one you've held ever since what happened."

Flame's words hit Zaze to the core. Now he kind of felt horrible. He alienated his friends by acting depressed and shunning them out; when what he needed the most was them in the first place. He looked at Flame who was glaring at him and gave him a sheepish smile. "Uh…sorry?"

"Sorry?" Flame looked aghast. "Is that all you have to say for yourself?"

"Give me a break, alright? I dealt with some pretty heavy stuff. I needed time alone to fix myself." Zaze bowed his head, feeling stupid for his actions. "I'm sorry for shunning you out. I shouldn't have done that."

Flame let out a sigh and smiled. "Apology accepted, Zaze. It's good to have you back."

"What are you saying?" Zaze asked. "I never left."

Flame smirked. That was the Zaze he knew and loved. "So this Frei dragoness," he began, thinking of an interesting topic. "She must really be something to kick that depression of yours out the window."

"She just really knew the right words." Zaze let out a sigh as he remembered the conversation again in his head. "She made me realize that there really is no point in looking at the past. No matter how hard I think about it, there's nothing I can do to change the things that happened. They already happened. All I can do now is just learn from it and live with the consequences."

Flame let out a gentle laugh. "It sounds like she took your advice, and gave it back to you."

Zaze glanced at the fire dragon. "Do I really give out advice like that?"

"Yes, you do, Zaze. You truly do."

"Since when did I start sounding so wise?"

Flame looked at the dragon flatly. "…Wait, are you joking around, or are you seriously asking that question?"

Zaze blinked, taking a moment before answering. "I'm serious."

"Oh, uh…" Flame stood there thinking. "I thought you were pulling my leg or something." The purple dragon shook his head, prompting the fire dragon to give him an answer. "I don't know. Maybe it's because of Maffrin's experience in life, I suppose?"

"Well, I guess it makes sense if you say it like that."

Flame decided to sit next to the purple dragon. A smirk appeared on the dragon's face. "So?"

Zaze looked confused. "…So what?"

"Is she pretty?" he asked frankly.

"FLAME!"

"What!?" The fire dragon raised his paws innocently. "I was just curious!"

"Does it matter if she's pretty? What does that have to do with anything?"

"It means everything!" Flame placed a paw on his friend's shoulder. "It's quite clear you like this dragoness." Zaze looked at him as if he was crazy. Where was all this coming from? "I'm going to help you get her." The fire dragon smiled at him confidently.

"Okay," the purple dragon began, having enough of Flame's antics. "First of all, no, I don't like her, like I love her! I just met her today! And secondly," Zaze waved his paws at the dragon. "This is not you, Flame. Please, stop it. You're scaring me."

Flame on the other paw just had a serious expression on his face. "Zaze, please, let me do this for you." His tone sounded sincere. "Out of all of us, you need a happy ending."

Zaze just sighed. "I don't think I want to be in a relationship at the moment."

"Because you were too thick headed to realize that someone actually loved you?" The other dragon glared at him. "What? Ember told me what Latis told her what you told her." The fire stopped for a moment. "Wait that actually made sense." He shook his head and got back on his train of thought. "You told her that you loved her like a sister?"

The purple dragon closed his eyes, remembering the expression on Latis' face. In retrospect, it was the stupidest thing that had ever come out of his mouth.

0 = 0 = 0

"I-it's nothing, Zaze," she answered, her voice cracking.

"Latis, are you crying?"

"I-I have to go!"

She turned, and briskly walked away. Tears were beginning to stream down her eyes. She left Zaze standing there, confused, worried and concerned. She could even hear Zaze call out to her, but her sobbing drowned him out. She eventually broke into a sprint as she rounded around the corner. The only place on her mind was her room. She needed to gather herself. The revelation that had just occurred to her was something she couldn't prepare herself for.

"Latis! Wait!" Zaze called out.

But it was too late. The ice dragoness had walked off to the corner, leaving him alone there. Zaze tried to make sense of what had just happened before him. One moment, he was having a pleasant chat with Latis. And then the next thing he knew, Latis was crying. The sight of her burned in his mind. It hurt him to see his friends sad; especially Latis, someone he truly cared for. But given the current situation, it would seem he would have to deal with this later.

"…was it something I said?"

0 = 0 = 0

But that 'later' never came. Things got worse from there and eventually, the opportunity was forever gone. Zaze felt like he was mentally slapped across the face. "Don't remind me. That wasn't a bright moment."

"Latis' death affected all of us. But you shouldn't let that get you stuck in the past, Zaze." Flame said, giving the dragon a friendly pat at the back. "Take your own advice, and deal with the consequences of your actions, but don't let it stop you from becoming a better dragon."

"I…will. Thank you, Flame."

"No need to thank me. I'm just returning the favor." The dragon stood up. "Well, I have to go and spread the good news. You just stay here and stay happy. Can you do that for me, Zaze?"

The dragon chuckled. "I can try."

"Great! In the meantime," Flame began walking away. "I'll try and find this Frei dragoness, see if I can hook you two up!"

Zaze glared. "Flame! I swear if you—"

Flame kept on walking, and turned back to give Zaze a playful grin. "It'll be good for you!"

The purple dragon just groaned and shook his head. Why on earth was Flame playing match maker? That was his job. Zaze just felt contented to lay back down the tree, enjoying the silence once again. This time however, he didn't feel as depressed. He managed to get things of his chest. But a frown crossed his face. He was being honest when he told Latis that he loved her like a sister. He didn't see her as someone he could get romantically involved with. Romance was the last thing on his mind. Maybe that was a side effect of Maffrin's past deep inside him. The dragon did have a terrible love life.

Or maybe that was just him being really thick headed? Zaze couldn't tell. He was just too friendly to everyone to notice that they were interested in him in becoming more than friends. That was when he realized he needed advice in dealing with relationships.

"Hello!"

Zaze blinked, as he was snapped out of his thoughts. He looked at the dragon that stood before him.

"You're a quiet one aren't you? What's your name?"

* * *

**Author's Notes:**

**Can you guys believe it!? Someone actually drew fanart! Let us all thank EmpireC2 for the amazing work he did! Wow! He's amazing! And the way he drew Zaze and Crombe are just top notch! **

**Since FF is bad at handling links, the link the fanart can be found at the DeviantART version of this chapter, at its Author's Notes section.**

* * *

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	8. Chapter 8 Encounters

**Disclaimer: I own nothing except my characters and the story itself. Other canon characters are owned by their respective companies.**

**Exclaimer: To people who don't like the story, just don't read it.**

* * *

Chapter 8

Encounters

"You're a quiet one aren't you? What's your name?"

Zaze was a bit shock at the social contact. What was going on today? One moment, everyone was avoiding him like he was death—in a way he was, given his status—and then he was being approached by dragons wanting to talk to get to know him. The most surprising thing was that, the dragon that stood before him gave him a sense of familiarity. He couldn't believe his eyes. The dragoness was the spitting image of Latis.

"…Latis?"

The dragoness cocked her head to the side, not hearing him right. "What was that, I didn't catch that?"

Zaze shook his head. "Um, sorry, I was thinking of something else. It's Zaze."

"Nice to meet you, Zaze!" She smiled, and Zaze felt his heart ache a little. She even had the same smile as her. "My name's Shaylus."

But before he could say anything, he was interrupted as another ice dragoness appeared.

"I thought I saw you run off to here—"the dragoness gasped, seeing her friend talking to Zaze,"I am so sorry!"

Shaylus turned to face the newcomer. "Sorry? What are you saying sorry for?"

"Shut up!" The dragoness snapped. She then looked at a confused Zaze, "Listen, my friend here, she doesn't think well often. So please, forgive her." Zaze noted that she seemed to be feeling uncomfortable as she proceeded to grab her friend by the shoulder. "In any case, we'll be leaving now."

"Wait what? I was just—"

But the dragoness was adamant. "Come on! We're leaving!"

"I was just asking his name!"

Shaylus was then proceeded to be comically dragged by her friend, leaving Zaze wondering what the heck just happened. Today was truly an odd day for him. But maybe that was a good sign. Things were going back to normal again, and he was socializing. Frei really did have a good effect on him. But in order for things to be truly right, he needed to talk to someone in particular. He needed advice in dealing with relationships. And he knew the perfect Guardian for it.

0

"Hey, what gives!? I was holding a conversation back there!" Shaylus glared at her companion.

Aurora on the other paw looked irritated. "Yeah! But did you have any idea who you were talking to?"

"Of course I do!"

"And yet you still go after him!"

"Everybody keeps saying that dragon is the Dark Master!"

"Because he is!" Aurora reasoned, trying to talk some sense into her crazy best friend. "He even said so himself! Something about incarnates or something." She shook her head. "I don't really know the details exactly, but the fact is the Guardians and even Spyro and Cynder vouched for him. So it's true."

"Well," Shay peeked at Zaze at the corner of her eyes, "he seems harmless."

"Did you forget the fact that I JUST told you?"

"Dark Master or not, no one deserves to be treated like that," she told her flatly.

"Oh you worry too much." Aurora waved a paw at her. "He's a grown dragon. He can take care of himself!" She then motioned for her to look again, "And besides, he's not a loner. Look."

The two dragonesses glance just in time to see a fire dragoness approach the purple dragon. The two seemed to be having a nice chat with one another. Aurora then added, "He has friends of his own, Shay. I don't want you hanging around with him. He's dangerous."

"You don't know that." Shay remained adamant.

"I…" Aurora stopped herself. "Okay, maybe I don't! But still, for our sake, please, stay away from him." She almost sounded like she was begging. "I'm the voice of reason here! Listen to me!"

Shaylus sighed. Aurora was a very stubborn dragoness. But her concerns were not needed. She knew deep down that Zaze wasn't dangerous. She could feel it just from looking at him. And she could also feel that he needed a friend. Shaylus wasn't one to pass opportunities to make friends up.

"I have to do this, Aurora." She looked at her friend with a serious gaze. "I can't turn my back on him!"

The dragoness sighed, shaking her head. Once Shaylus had her mind set on something, she was going to see it through. But she had to try. "You know, it's situations like these that make me wonder, why do I even bother?" She rolled her eyes and groaned "I will never understand you, Shay."

"And that's why you like me!" the dragoness chirped.

"If he hurts you, don't come crying to me about it. I'll just be laughing all day long, saying I told you so."

Shay smirked. "But I honestly thought you'd be the one all over this! Saying you like him and all!"

Aurora stared daggers at Shay. "I was just joking! Do not hold that against me!"

"Fine, fine!" Shay turned her head to look at Zaze again. "I was just kidding."

But Aurora was getting frustrated now. "Bah! Do whatever you want! I'm leaving!" The dragoness proceeded to storm off angrily. Shaylus let her go. She needed to cool her head. She was over reacting. Zaze was harmless. She peeked at the corner of the tree where she stood, seeing Zaze still talking to the fire dragoness. But she had to pick her chances. She wanted to talk to him alone. It'll be easier for her to be friends with him that way.

0

The earth dragon sighed as he relaxed in the pile of cushions he sat on. Piles and piles of books were around him, giving the impression he was surrounded by a wall of books. In front of the dragon was a rather large looking book that had the words Elemental Control written up front. Crombe lazily flipped through the pages, reading them as he did so. He hummed to himself, letting the words sink in. "I have to try that…" He flipped the page again, and this time it showed an image of an ice dragon standing next to an electric dragon. Crombe closed his eyes as the memory came back to him. No…please no, he thought. He was trying his hardest to forget about what happened, but it seemed that everyone was equally trying as well to make him remember.

"Crombe?"

The earth dragon looked up to find the Ice Guardian approaching him. "Yes, Cyril?"

"What are you doing here?"

He motioned to the books that were laid out in front of him. "Research."

Cyril eyed the book he was holding. "Elemental Control?" His eyes darted to another book with a title he noted felt familiar. "Tales of the Blue Dragon? Is that the one I gave you?" Crombe nodded. "Why are you doing it now? It's not due till a few days."

The dragon shrugged. "I don't know. I don't exactly have anything to do either."

Cyril's brow rose. "Why not go hang out with the others?"

His eyes fell to the side, avoiding the Guardian's gaze, not really knowing what to say. Cyril could feel that Crombe's inability to socialize was probably stemming from what had happened before. And from his understanding, he had a vague idea of what was troubling the young dragon.

"Crombe?"

"Hmm?"

"You don't have to blame yourself." Crombe turned to look at Cyril who was looking back at him with a serious expression. "No one's blaming you for what happened."

He let out a deep sigh, feeling the painful memories be brought back to the front of his mind. What he tried so hard to erase. What he tried so hard to forget. What he wished had never happened. He could feel his heart break into pieces as the images played in his head,

"I should have been the one…I should have been the one that died."

"Losing someone is painful, especially a friend like Latis. But we have to move on Crombe. We can't stay in the past forever." The dragon just looked down, but was clearly paying attention. "But what's important though is this: do you feel any resentment towards Zaze?"

Crombe closed his eyes as he tried to make some sense of his emotions. Him and Zaze, he still didn't understand what he wanted to do. On one paw, he was angry at him. Angry at the fact that it was him that caused the death of his cousin. On the other, was an equally opposite argument. He understood that Zaze's actions weren't his and he would never harm a friend. That was very unlike him. Two sides of an argument that constantly waged war inside him.

"I don't know," he answered. "I'm angry and at the same time understanding. He did kill the only dragon I considered..." Crombe trailed. Frankly, that detail didn't matter that much anymore. Latis was gone. He just didn't want to dwell on it.

"What was that?" Cyril said, noting his sudden stop.

The earth dragon shook his head, "It's nothing. It doesn't matter now." Crombe then stood up, putting the books to the side. He walked past Cyril who was looking at him curiously.

"Where are you going?"

"I need to get some fresh air."

Cyril watched as the dragon left. "What did you mean...?"

Crombe left the library, feeling confused at what he would be doing. His mind was still having trouble deciding how he was going to treat Zaze. Add the fact that he just suffered another blow of losing the family member he just realized he had; it was a tough time for him. The earth dragon wandered the halls of the temple, lost in his thoughts. Talking would be the best thing he could do at the moment, an idea Zaze would probably suggest to him if the purple dragon was in the right state of mind. Crombe scoffed. He should take his own advice, he thought. Who would he talk to? He pondered on the idea. The question changed to who could he talk to? He made a mental recap of his relationship status with everyone at the temple. Naturally he thought of Zaze, but immediately dismissed the idea. He felt like he wasn't ready yet to talk to him. He still needed to sort his feelings out.

The Guardians were the first ideal dragons he could share his troubles with but Crombe shook his head. They already had enough problems to deal with, namely Zaze. Dragons were still wary around the new purple dragon. He WAS the Dark Master after all. Spyro and Cynder came to mind. He and Cynder have been okay after what happened back at the camping trip, but he wasn't willing to push his chances just yet. He was glad to be just friends with her, and the same went for Spyro.

Flame and Ember came afterwards. He wasn't close to the fire dragoness but he could tell that Flame was reaching out to him. The fire dragon seemed nice enough, and didn't seem as talkative as Zaze. He did mention that he could talk to him if he ever needed someone to listen to him. The rest weren't ideal dragons for Crombe; he was just not close enough for them to share the burdens he had on his mind. Maybe he could talk to Flame.

"Hey! Give that back!"

Crombe was snapped out of his musings as the voice came ringing in his ears. Four dragons were standing in the middle of the hallway before him. One in particular stood out. This dragon was rather small, in comparison to the other three that surrounded him. One bigger dragon held what looked like a rolled up scroll, whilst the smaller dragon in the middle desperately tried to take it back. It didn't take much for Crombe to understand the scene. He knew full well what was going on.

Normally he wouldn't bat an eye at it. He had enough problems to deal with and he'd rather not associate himself with other dragons' problems. He wasn't Zaze after all, the dragon that would clearly go out of his way to help others. But something rooted him at the spot, making him watch the scene unfold.

"I said: Give it back!" the dragon yelled.

"Try and get it then!" said the other, before he proceeded to toss it to his partner who caught it with no fail. The dragon in the middle fumed, and tried to pry it away from the other but before he could, it was thrown again. It was an endless cycle.

Crombe silently watched as the bigger dragons clearly bullied the smaller earth dragon. It was faint, but a memory deep inside his mind came to remind him of a very familiar scene in his childhood. This had happened before. And just like then, he wasn't going to let it go any further. It wasn't right.

"Hey!"

The four stopped in their actions, and all turned their heads to find Crombe walking up to them. "Give it back," he said with a flat expression.

The three other dragons all glanced at each other, finding a new player in their game. One of the dragons threw the scroll at the smaller dragon. He caught it and was proceeded to be shoved to the side as the three took their attention to the new comer.

"Do you have a death wish?" one of the dragons asked him.

Crombe glanced up at the dragon, seeing as he was actually taller than him. "Do you?" He wasn't intimidated one bit. He had fought the Dark Master incarnate—Zaze—and lived. A few bullies were nothing.

* * *

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	9. Chapter 9 Requests

**Disclaimer: I own nothing except my characters and the story itself. Other canon characters are owned by their respective companies.**

**Exclaimer: To people who don't like the story, just don't read it.**

* * *

Chapter 9

Requests

The smaller earth dragon watched the scene in front of him unfold. He was curious to know as to what this earth dragon was going to do. He clutched onto the scroll, silently wishing his savior luck. His savior…he did a double take. The dragon…he felt familiar to him. Like he had seen him earlier that day; as if to voice his idea, one of the dragons spoke up.

"Hey dude…I think I recognize this guy…" said one dragon, looking at Crombe.

"It doesn't matter." Crombe immediately noted him to be the leader of the bullies; a big burly fire dragon that seemed like he had nothing but muscles to make up for his lack of brainpower. "Because once I am done with him, you won't recognize him any longer."

"Is that so?" Crombe asked, examining the situation. Three against one; if he took down the leader, the other two would most likely back down; they seemed to be the type that just followed whatever their leader did. He cast them a quick glance. An electric dragon, average in size but seemed to be carrying enough bulk to belong with the group. He was the one that claimed he recognized him, giving him points for brainpower. The other was an ice dragon who felt contented to just glare at him. He never spoke throughout the entire ordeal but Crombe guessed he didn't have anything worth to say either.

The electric dragon looked worried. He had seen Crombe before. He just couldn't remember when. But something told him that he should do what he says. "I don't think we should…"

"Shut up!" said the other fire dragon hot headedly. "You!" he pointed at Crombe. "You ruined my fun!" He cocked his head to the side, a joint cracking in place. It was probably a show of intimidation. "And now, I'm going to ruin you!"

Crombe's brow just rose curiously as the dragon lunged at him.

"Watch out!" yelled the smaller dragon who took the liberty of hiding behind the corner. He wanted to help, but he knew for a fact he wasn't going to do much

The fire dragon proceeded to smack Crombe by swinging his tail wildly in the air. Crombe easily just sidestepped to the side, completely unfazed by the display of rage before him. The dragon turned around, not happy to have missed his target. He proceeded to swing again, only this time, he did friendly fire, attacking his friends in the process.

"Hey watch it!" one of the dragons yelled.

This time, the fire dragon got truly pissed. With an angry roar, he opened his maw and proceeded to unleash a blaze of fire directly at Crombe. The smaller dragon cried out in fear, hoping that his supposed savior would be alright. Even the friends of the fire dragon took cover, seeing as this was getting out of control. Once the flames died down, the fire dragon gasped in surprise to see a blackened earth wall standing before him.

"WHAT!?" He stood there completely stunned. "I-Impossible!"

The earth wall proceeded to crumble into nothing more but fine dust, and there stood Crombe, unfazed, and most importantly, unhurt. He glanced at the fire dragon that was still in shock at what he just saw. His expression changed to that of someone being bored. He shook his head and looked at the fire dragon, "Is that it?"

The friends of the fire dragon all seemed to shake in fear, seeing as this mysterious earth dragon survived all that. And he didn't flinch.

"Really?" Crombe asked again. "Is that it?"

"I-I think we should go!" said the electric dragon, before turning and running with his tail between his legs. The ice dragon followed right after, worried what Crombe might do to them.

"Get back here you cowards!" shouted the fire dragon, before turning around to face Crombe. "You!" Crombe raised his brow. "This isn't over!" he yelled, before running out on them.

Crombe scoffed. "Well that was a waste of time." He glanced to his side and saw the smaller earth dragon meekly approaching him. "You okay, kid?"

"I-I am," he replied.

"Good." Crombe then turned around and proceeded to walk away from the scene.

"W-wait!" The dragon called out, running behind him.

"What is it?"

"T-thank you."

Crombe's brow rose. "Thank you? For what?"

"For saving me from those bullies."

"Oh that?" Crombe smiled at him. "You don't have to thank me."

"B-but I do!" The dragon looked down. "No one has ever done that for me."

Crombe proceeded to tap the dragon's head. "What's your name?"

"Steppe," the dragon answered happily. "What's yours?"

"Crombe." Steppe visibly blinked. He had seen this dragon before! He was the one in class, he thought to himself. Those dragons earlier really got out lucky. They didn't see what he could do. "Listen, Steppe, you don't have to thank me for that. I was just doing what was right."

"I know…but still! You were awesome!" the dragon told him, his eyes shining brightly.

Crombe however ignored his enthusiasm. He then said with a flat tone, "What I did was a very basic dragon technique. All earth dragons know this."

Ouch. Steppe looked visibly hurt. "…I don't know that technique…"

Crombe shrugged. "Well I guess there's more for you to learn."

"C-Can you teach me?" he blurted out before he could even say what he was thinking.

"What?" It was the only word that came out of Crombe's mouth as he was caught off guard by the statement.

"Crombe, will you please teach me? I want to become just as cool and awesome as you are!" Steppe replied. Crombe could almost see the fire in his eyes, shining brighter than the sun.

"When I saw you earlier at class, I knew for sure you were going to be a cool student! I mean, you even beat out Spyro and Cynder! The Legendary Purple Dragon and the Terror of the Skies."

The earth dragon shook his head. The last thing he wanted right now was to teach. He wanted to talk to Flame, just for the sake of talking. "No," He said firmly, clearly disappointing the dragon. "You're a grown dragon, learn it yourself." Steppe sighed dejectedly. He didn't expect Crombe to be so reluctant in socializing. Then again, with the way he was acting earlier, he shouldn't have been surprised. "Or you could just ask Terrador to give you a few private lessons, Steppe, your choice."

But he remained adamant. "I want you to teach me! I don't think Terrador would be able to, seeing as he's busy. Come on, please!" He was practically begging now. "I promise you I'll pick it up fast!"

Crombe shook his head again. He just HAD to go out of his way to help this dragon and now here he was dealing with ANOTHER problem. "I'm not a good teacher, Steppe. I don't think I'll be able to teach you much."

"It doesn't matter! I promise you I'll work hard to get it done right."

Crombe let out a sigh. Judging from how determined Steppe was, it was quite clear that he wasn't going to leave not getting what he wanted.

"Fine, fine!" Crombe just wanted to end the conversation. "You're more annoying than, Zaze!"

"I-I am?" Steppe asked curiously.

"Yes." The earth dragon waved a paw at him. "Alright, I'll teach you the stupid earth wall technique. After that, I'm out, alright?"

"Thank you so much Crombe!"

"Come and talk to me later," Crombe said, shaking his head. "I'll be around."

"I promise you that I won't mess this up!"

Crombe started walking away. "Leave me alone, kid."

Steppe nodded. "Right! Sorry! I'm annoying! I'll stop talking now and leave you be."

"What have I done…?" Crombe asked himself as he rounded the corner.

He could never understand the appeal of helping dragons. How on earth did Zaze do it? How did he manage to deal with all the unnecessary interaction? It was a mystery to Crombe, and it was quite clear to him he was nowhere near in figuring it out. And look where it got him now? He had an apprentice to teach; all because he stepped out of his way to help him. He just shook his head and kept walking. Today was not his day, apparently. Maybe Flame would ease his concerns. Maybe even give him some pointers on how to teach. Crombe had no idea how to do it.

0

"Are you sure you three can't stay for long?" Terrador asked, looking at the two dragons before him.

Nox shook his head. "I'm sorry, Terrador. But it was too sudden. We'll come back once we arrange things back at our place."

Glace walked over to the Earth Guardian and patted him at the side of the cheek. "It was great meeting you again, Terrador. You've changed so much. It's great to see you be yourself again."

Terrador chuckled. "Well, you can thank Decibele for that, and Zaze. Without the two of them, I wouldn't be here talking with you two."

Decibele stood next him. "I'm so glad we had this reunion with one another."

"The feeling is mutual, Decibele." Nox replied. He then smirked at Terrador. "But I'm happier to see that Mr. Guardian here finally found himself someone! I expected you and Decibele to be together. And you are! Good job!" He gave the green dragon a playful jab.

Terrador found himself blushing under the sudden attention. "Well, we're just"

"We are," Decibele chirped, cutting off Terrador. She stood next to him, leaning on his shoulder.

"But Decibele, if anything bad happens, you shout, alright?" Nox said, grinning playfully. "I'll come and kick Terrador's butt for you."

Terrador looked a bit surprised. "Hey, who's kicking whose butt now?" He puffed his chest out proudly. "Last time I checked, I was the Earth Guardian and you were just a normal dragon."

"A normal dragon that can still kick your butt!"

"Alright boys, break it up!" Glace said, standing in front of the two.

"We're just having fun, Glace. No harm done," Nox smiled.

"Sorry to break the fun, but we really have to go." That was when Glace stopped and started looking around. "Have any of you seen Frei?"

"Mom! Dad!"

The adults turned their head to find the young dragon running up to them. Glace gave her a warm hug. "Where have you been?"

"I was just exploring the area. I met two purple dragons! I thought you said there was only one?" Frei asked curiously.

"Frei," Nox turned to face his daughter. "I don't want you hanging around Zaze. Can you do that for me?"

Terrador's brow rose. "Nox, that's not really necessary. Zaze is perfectly fine."

Nox raised a paw. "I understand your explanation clearly, Terrador. I know you and the other Guardians have vouched for him. I know who he was, and who he is now. But," he looked at him with a serious expression. "I can't help but look out for my daughter. I hope you understand that. "

"But why?" Frei asked. "Zaze looked so down earlier so I talked to him. It seemed like he really needed a friend. He's all better now!"

"You talked to Zaze?" Decibele asked, genuinely surprised.

"I did." She then turned to face his mother. "Are we really leaving, Mom? I wanted to try and talk to him some more."

"We are dear, but we'll be back. We just have to fix a few things back at home."

"Well, alright."

Nox then turned to face Terrador and Decibele. "Thank you for the company you too."  
"Anytime, Nox. Have a safe flight back home."

The three dragons then left, opening their wings and taking to the skies. Terrador and Decibele waved goodbye as their three friends left. He smiled. He never imagined that this day would come. The day he repaired the damaged relationship he had with his friends. He finally had closure.

Decibele patted him at the side. "Well, Terry, let's head back inside."

"You and me," he began as they walked back inside the temple, "we need to talk."

"About what?"

"About this!" Terrador motioned to both of them. "I mean, are we really…together? I'm confused, Bele."

Decibele smiled. She then gave the dragon a gentle kiss on the cheek. "Let's talk later, okay?"

Terrador blinked, completely taken by surprise by the sudden kiss. "I, uh, sure, then." Decibele then turned to leave, making sure to trail her tail below the Earth Guardian's chin. He didn't know how to react, but he knew one thing for sure. He was looking forward to that talk of theirs.

0

Volteer sat at his pile of cushions in the Guardians' Room. He had just finished reading some scrolls he had and was looking forward for some well-deserved rest. Teaching young dragons the necessary lessons were always a tiring endeavor. He let out a yawn as he rested his head on the comfortable pillow. A nice nap was the main thing he wanted to do at the moment. But it had to wait, as a knock came from the door.

"Yes?" he answered, sitting upright. "What is it?"

The door opened and the dragon's brow rose. "Good afternoon, Master Volteer," said the dragon as he entered.

"Likewise; what is it that you need young dragon?"

"Master Volteer," the dragon looked determined, "would you please teach me that technique from earlier?"

* * *

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	10. Chapter 10 Persona

**Disclaimer: I own nothing except my characters and the story itself. Other canon characters are owned by their respective companies.**

**Exclaimer: To people who don't like the story, just don't read it.**

* * *

Chapter 10

Persona

The dragoness let out a sigh of frustration as she walked down the halls of the temple. "Why did she have to be so…so…" She bit her lip. Why did Shaylus have to be so stubborn? She was just looking out for the dragoness. But what did she do? She went up and talked to the purple dragon! Zaze, of all dragons! She shook her head. That kindness of hers was going to be the death of her. He was dangerous. If it was Spyro then she would have encourage her. But it wasn't. She stopped walking and looked back. The temple grounds were a fair distance away from her now. She could still head back and talk to Shaylus. Or she could just keep walking and let the dragoness learn her lesson for a change. With a scoff, she decided with the latter. Shaylus was too nice for her own good. This would serve as a good lesson for her. Now that her mind was finally at ease Aurora wondered what she was going to do now. The dragoness had planned to stick around with her friend for the whole afternoon but since their disagreement earlier happened, that went down the drain completely.

"I wonder what Trax is doing…" Last thing she could remember was that they left Trax and Steppe together at the training dojo. Steppe wasn't exactly the most outgoing dragon out there, so he would have probably opted to stay at the library. Trax must have been walking around doing Ancestors know what. That was when something caught her eye. "Steppe?"

The earth dragon looked like he was pleased with himself. He walked with a skip in his step and was beaming. "Oh, hey, Aurora!" He greeted her with a cheerful smile. "What's up?"

The dragoness eyed her friend curiously. "Not much. What are you happy about?"

"Oh, nothing really." Steppe then broke into an excited state. "It's just that I managed to meet him!"

"Who?"

"Crombe!" Aurora gave him a confused look which prompted him to add, "You know, the dragon earlier from class! The one you thought would fall flat on his face."

"I see." The dragoness shook her head. "Did something happen? How did you meet?"

Steppe looked down the floor, not wanting to remember the memory. "Vein and his lackeys were bullying me again."

"They were!?" Aurora exclaimed. "Where are they? I'll go give them a piece of my mind."

The earth dragon waved his paws, trying to calm his friend down. "No, no, no! It's alright!"

"Huh?"

"You didn't let me finish! Vein and his lackeys were bullying me again earlier. I was doing some homework at the library. They thought it was fun to bother me. You know how it goes." Aurora nodded, listening intently. "Well, there was me being tormented right? The next thing I know, Crombe comes around the corner and basically tells Vein to knock it off."

Aurora was taken by surprise. "He did? Just like that?"

Steppe nodded. "Yeah! I was like: either this guy is brave and is confident in himself, or he was really, really, really stupid.

"What happened then?"

"Naturally of course Vein wasn't having any of it and decides to have 'fun' with him instead. I took cover as the sparks began to fly. Crombe he just…" The dragon tried to find the right words and in the end said, "He just stood there! He looked bored! Vein tried to smack him with his tail, and then Crombe just slips by like water. He missed and he was this close." The dragon raised his paw to emphasize his point. "This close to each other, and he missed. He ended up smacking his friend."

"Wow…" Aurora was genuinely amazed. "That must have hurt."

"It sure looked like it did. Anyways, of course Vein wasn't all too happy about it. So he decides to go all up in his face and spit out fire."

The dragoness blinked. "In the hallway?"

"Yeah, I had to close my eyes. There was no way Crombe could have dodged that. He had to take it."

"What did he do then?"

"Fire was raging in front of us but eventually it was cut off. That was when we saw it. Crombe had managed to set up this earth wall between him and Vein in under that short amount of time and acted like it was nothing. The look on Vein's face was priceless! He was scared stiff. Crombe didn't miss a beat."

Aurora looked at Steppe who was happy retelling the story. "Well, I'm glad he came then; saved me the trouble of having to talk some sense into those idiots."

"I appreciate the concern," replied Steppe. "But the best part in all of this is that: I managed to get him as my mentor!"

The dragoness blinked. "…What?"

"My mentor; you know, teach me stuff!"

"Are you sure, Steppe? Crombe doesn't seem like the teaching type." She then thought for a moment and then added, "Nor the social type either."

The dragon looked down the floor. "He said yes…I think, so I guess that counts. You know the odd thing though."

"What is?"

"He seems to know Zaze. I mean, I think they were friends."

"Well, you could try asking him that when you start having lessons from him."

Steppe smiled. "I will." The earth dragon then decided to change the subject, "So, what are you doing here anyway?"

Aurora sighed. "Ms. Nice Dragoness back there decided it was a good idea to talk to Zaze."

"She really went through with it?"

"Yeah…I kept telling her no too."

Steppe looked at Aurora curiously. "Why are you so against it anyway? Zaze seems like a nice dragon."

"Not you too!" The dragoness' shoulders slumped.

"What? The Guardians seemed okay with it; even Spyro and Cynder!"

"It's just that…" Aurora closed her eyes. "I just don't trust him, alright; especially the fact that he IS the Dark Master isn't helping."

"Didn't they say he used to be—?"

"Look, can we not talk about him, please?" Aurora asked, cutting Steppe off.

Steppe eyed her curiously, but decided to drop the subject. "Alright; you don't have to be so touchy about it."

Aurora just shook her head. "So where's Trax? Didn't you two leave with each other?" She then let out a chuckle. "Or did he run off when Vein appeared?"

Steppe shook his head. "He wasn't there with me, sadly. And you know Trax, he won't leave me with him."

"I know, I know. I was just kidding. Do you know where he went?"

The dragon sighed. "He went off to try and talk to Volteer."

"He's still on that?"

"The guy's persistent, I can tell you that much."

Aurora frowned. "I wonder what it will take for him to realize he's not Guardian material."

"Maybe when Volteer tells him?" Steppe looked out the window, noting that the sun started to cast orange streaks on the sky. Afternoon was leaving and evening was fast approaching. "Aurora, do you really, honestly, think Trax has a shot in this?"

"Being a Guardian?"

Steppe nodded.

"Honestly, why not?" Aurora stood next to Steppe and stared out the window. "I just hope he doesn't give up halfway."

"It's really that hard huh? How does it work exactly?"

"The Guardians are the ones that choose apprentices; that is if they still don't have a clear choice for who they want to succeed."

"But if they do, they don't take apprentices, and straight up train their desired successor, right?"

Aurora nodded. "Pretty much."

"Do you think Volteer has someone in mind already?"

The ice dragoness shrugged. "I'm not sure. There aren't any electric dragons that stand out to me at all."

Steppe then thought for a moment. "Does Spyro count?"

"Huh?"

The earth dragon looked at Aurora curiously. "Does Spyro count? I mean, can purple dragons be Guardians? Isn't that kind of…" He thought of the best word to use. "Cheating?"

"I…" Aurora shook her head. "I don't know. I don't think it would be. Why would it be anyway?"

"Good point."

That was when a loud grumbling came from Steppe's stomach. The dragon smiled sheepishly. "That was me."

Aurora smiled. "Fine, let's go grab something to eat."

0

"I am so glad that you're talking now, Zaze."

The purple dragon chuckled. "Were you guys really that concerned for me?"

"Of course!" The fire dragoness placed a paw on his shoulder. "You're our friend, Zaze! And friends always help each other." She then shook her head and looked at him flatly. "It was a bit challenging though, seeing that you were brushing us away."

Zaze hung his head and apologized. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to do it. I just needed…time alone."

She waved a paw at him. "It doesn't matter, Zaze. It's all behind us now."

The dragon smiled and the two of them kept on walking. "Thanks for keeping me company, Ember."

"You're welcome."

"Why aren't you with Flame, though? You two are always together."

The dragoness shrugged. "I met with him earlier. He mentioned something about hanging out with Crombe today..."

"Crombe?" Zaze's brow rose. "Are you sure that was him?"

Ember chuckle, and looked at him. "Zaze, don't be like that. Crombe is a friend of ours. If anything he's in the same case as you."

"I know, I know. I don't really understand why though." Ember faced him, prompting to continue, "I never really saw Crombe and Latis together. Yet, he seems to be taking this hard."

"Don't be presumptuous, Zaze." The dragon turned to face her and saw that she had a serious expression. "Crombe was there when you…"

"When I…what?"

Ember sighed. She was a bit apprehensive saying it, seeing as that Zaze finally cheered up, but he was kind of asking for it. In the end, she decided to just say it. "Crombe was there when you broke Latis' heart."

Zaze blinked, caught off guard by the statement. The memory came to him and a pang of regret washed over him. Even Crombe was more sensitive than he was. He had to give the earth dragon more credit.

Ember cleared her throat, knowing that her answer brought some bad memories to Zaze. "He was the one that comforted her. And I guess they kind of bonded there."

The purple dragon nodded. Memories of Latis resurfaced in his mind. "I miss her."

"We all do, Zaze."

"I…I wish I could have apologized."

"For what?"

"For saying what I said." The purple dragon walked over to the balcony and looked out to the sky. "I mean, I like Latis…but…"

"But not the same way, she thought of you, huh?" Ember asked, standing next to him.

"Yes." He faced Ember with a solemn expression. "I really thought of her as a younger sister." The dragon sighed. "It's probably because I never had a sister."

"Maffrin's past isn't all that great, huh?"

Zaze nodded. "I guess I really didn't think of her romantically because of the bad past I had."

"You had, or Maffrin had?" Ember asked him.

"Ember, I and Maffrin are—"

"No, Zaze. I'm asking you. I'm asking 'Zaze'.Who do you think you are?"

The purple dragon looked confused. "I-I don't know what you mean."

Ember placed a paw on his shoulder. "You have two lives now, Zaze. You can either continue living as Maffrin, or you could continue living as Zaze. You should choose one and let the other rest. You can't live with both. You can either be the sprightly bright dragon we all know and love and tried his best, or be the purple dragon that everyone feared, and killed…Latis."

Zaze looked at her and thought for a moment. "If you put it that way, it seems like the right choice is just to be…me."

"But who is 'me'?"

"I…" Zaze turned back and faced the horizon. The sun was now casting its orange streaks across the sky, signaling the coming of the evening. "I don't know."

"And that is good," Ember said, "You're not supposed to know outright."

Zaze chuckled realizing the situation he was in.

"What's so funny?"

"Since when did you start sounding so…wise?"

Ember smiled. "You kind of rubbed off on me."

"I think I need to step up my game then. I can't seem to fix my own problems, yet I can solve other dragons' problems so easily."

"We're your friends, Zaze. You don't have to do this alone."

The purple dragon smiled warmly. "Thanks. I never expected finding myself would be so challenging."

* * *

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	11. Chapter 11 Suggestions

**Disclaimer: I own nothing except my characters and the story itself. Other canon characters are owned by their respective companies.**

**Exclaimer: To people who don't like the story, just don't read it.**

* * *

Chapter 11

Suggestions

The Ice Guardian let out a sigh as he shifted on the comfortable cushions. "Is this really necessary?"

The resident temple healer, and his mate, smirked at him. "Well, you were the one that said you had a headache." The dragoness moved over to his side and placed a paw on his head. "Are you feeling better now, Cyril?"

He nodded, smiling up to her. "Much better now that you're here, Alyssa."

She playfully pushed his head, making the large blue dragon tumble down the cushions. "Charming as always."

"What?" Cyril sat up. "You're a beautiful dragoness, Alyssa. You deserve all the praise I can give you."

"Is that so?" Alyssa asked. "What else can I help you with?"

Cyril had an innocent look on his face. "I have been feeling rather uncomfortable down below. Maybe you can check over it?"

The dragoness decided to play along, knowing full well where this was going. "Alright, Cyril, where does it hurt?"

"Somewhere around here." The dragon rolled to lie on his back and he pointed to his chest. "It hurts a little here."

The dragoness' brow rose. "Really?" She pressed down on his chest, feeling around it. "I don't feel anything wrong with it."

The Ice Guardian however moved his tail to expose his lower region. "I think this is what I meant."

Alyssa let out a playful gasp, feigning ignorance. "My, oh my, Cyril!" A sultry expression crossed her face. "I think it's swollen!"

The dragon smiled mischievously. "It's been like that all day! What do I do to make it go away, Alyssa?"

"Well, I can take care of it for you." Alyssa then leaned in and kissed Cyril in the lips, playfully rubbing her tail on the dragon's crotch. The dragon didn't argue, happily returning the kiss in the process. He let out a low moan, enjoying the actions of his mate. Eventually, Alyssa broke off, looking deeply into Cyril's eyes.

"Maybe we should do this somewhere more…private?" She glanced out the window and saw that it was nighttime already. "It's getting pretty late."

But it would seem that the Ice Guardian had other ideas. "We're alone here." He wrapped his tail around her legs possessively. "And besides, I want you now."

Alyssa giggled happily. "Oh Cyril, you sly dragon." She then proceeded to kiss the dragon back again, this time with enough force to push him back down the cushions and lay on top of him.

The two dragons were so into it that they didn't notice the doors opened.

"Um, Master Alyssa, do you happen to—oh my!"

The two adult dragons immediately stopped what they were doing as they were caught red handed. Alyssa stood up, quickly covering up his mate with her body. Cyril rolled over to cover his lower body, along with his swollen indecency. The two ice dragons' cheeks were bright red, a stark contrast to their scales. Alyssa looked flustered, desperately wanting to be anywhere but there. Cyril just had his head buried in the pillows.

"Um…maybe I should go…"

Alyssa cleared his throat, regaining her composure. "No, young dragon, it's alright." She sighed. It was best to just get this over with. "What is it that you need?"

"I was looking for Master Cyril." The dragon peered to the side of Alyssa, and saw the Ice Guardian perk up at hearing his voice. "But I think I came at a bad time."

A frustrated look came across Cyril's face. "You kind of did," he said in a low voice.

Alyssa glared at him. "No, it's completely fine. We were just…" Alyssa tried to find the right words to say. Playing? Wrestling? Mating, well trying to anyway before they got caught, was the appropriate word but she couldn't bring herself to say it. In the end she gave up and moved to the side to reveal the ice dragon. "What did you need anyway?"

"What's your name, young dragon?" Cyril asked, beckoning the young one to come closer. The faster they got this done, the sooner they can get back to what they were doing.

"It's Shaylus," she replied, sitting on the floor in front of Cyril. "And I wanted to ask for some advice."

The two adults glanced at each other. "About what?"

"Well, it's mainly about this dragon, named Zaze."

Hearing the name of the purple dragon immediately hooked the two's attention. This was new. A student that actually took interest in Zaze is fairly rare, given his reputation. It was a female too. "Go on, Shaylus."

"I want to be friends with him." She looked up at the two of them. "But how do I do that?"

"Oh, well," Alyssa started thinking. "Uh…you could try talking to him. You have tried to approach him, right? What brought you to start this endeavor anyway?" she asked curiously.

"It's just that I see him all alone nowadays. Didn't you guys say that he used to be the Dark Master, but he's good now?" Cyril nodded, prompting her to continue, "All my friends think he's dangerous, but I think he's fine. I want to be friends with him because I don't want to see him sad anymore." She looked a little down. "I just don't know how to approach him."

Cyril smiled. "That's very nice of you Shaylus; Zaze really needs friends at the moment. As for your question," he sat up properly, "you've come to the right place. I and Alyssa know Zaze very well."

"Just be nice to him," Alyssa said, "Zaze is a good dragon and won't harm you."

"I think I have an idea," Cyril said, realizing something. "You're in my class tomorrow, right?" Shaylus nodded. "Good. I can pair you two up so you'll be working together. How does that sound?"

The dragoness smiled. "Really?"

"Just promise me one thing: keep him happy and smiling. Zaze needs it the most."

"I will! Thanks Masters Cyril and Alyssa."

"Happy to help," Alyssa said, "Is that everything?"

"Yes. And um," Shaylus blushed a little. "Sorry for walking in on you like that."

Alyssa just chuckled. "You may go now, Shaylus. Just forget about what you saw. You're too young for that."

The dragoness nodded, before running off. As soon as the door closed, Cyril let out a sigh. "Well…that was…something."

The dragoness sat next to Cyril on the pillows, cuddling up to his mate. "Are you sure that was a good idea?"

"Why?" Cyril glanced at her, noting her expression. "Zaze needs someone at this moment."

"That dragoness, Shaylus, she kinds of looks like Latis."

"Oh…I see what you mean. Might bring up bad memories for him?"

She nodded. "But regardless, the bright side is, someone is actually taking interest in Zaze."

"I'm definitely going to pair them up tomorrow. It's the least I could do for Zaze. Without him, this…" He gave a gentle kiss to Alyssa. "…wouldn't be possible." The dragoness smiled, nodding. They truly had this relationship they now shared to thank for that young dragon. "But now…" A mischievous smile crept on Cyril's face. "We're finally alone again. We can get back to what we're doing."

"You never miss a beat, do you?"

"What can I say? You're too beautiful to resist."

Alyssa just chuckled at Cyril's pickup line. "Oh you, just shut up already and kiss me."

"Yes, Master Alyssa."

The Ice Guardian then leaned up again, and started kissing the dragoness. Before long, the two tumbled into the cushions again, and this time, there were no more distractions to interrupt them.

0

The dragon breathed heavily, his eyes focusing on the target before him. He carefully studied his options, trying to think of the best course of action. He could slip to the side and attack, or he could take to the skies and rain down pressure from above. He thought fast. He decided to take the direct approach. Charging up his Earth element, he created a ball of rock around him and before long he was encased in a large boulder of rock, rolling dangerously towards the training dummy. An explosion of rock and straw exploded afterwards as the rock collided, shattering into smithereens; the dragon was launched into the air amongst all the debris. He spun around and focused, opening his maw to spew out a highly concentrated blast of ice straight to the ground. A strong blast of cold subzero temperature froze everything in place. But the dragon wasn't done yet. He finished it off by covering his entire body in flame, falling straight to the ground like a comet, sending a shockwave of fire and melting everything in place.

The training dummy never stood a chance.

"Wow…" He let out a deep breath, surprised at what he just managed to pull off. "I never knew I could do that." The purple dragon glanced at where the training dummy originally stood. It was no longer there. Instead, a mix of ice, earth and fire was all that was left of it. "And I'm not even tired!" The dragon let out a little dance of happiness, glad that he was able to pull of something he never thought he could. "Training actually does help…Spyro, you really need to train some more."

The purple dragon smiled to himself as he rested for a moment. This was the probably the first time he ever trained. Well technically he trained with Terrador before but he thought of that as more of a punishment than training. He did kind of hurt Flame pretty bad with that accidental Convexity blast. You could say he trained before with the Guardians when he was young, but that was more of a crash course rather than training. They didn't have the luxury of time so he had to learn things on the go. The dragon shook his head. That was then and this was now. And Spyro was amazed with the results of his somewhat short training session.

"I wonder what else I can do…"

The dragon was about to start back up again when he noticed a presence in the room. He turned around to find an electric dragon standing in awe in at the corner.

Seeing the purple dragon looking back at him, he smiled meekly. "Oh! Did I bother you? I'm so sorry!"

Spyro shook his head. "It's alright. You were watching me?"

The dragon nodded. "I was. You're amazing, Spyro!"

"Thank you. And you are?"

"Trax."

Spyro's eyes narrowed. The name sounded familiar. It took a moment to click in his head. "You're that dragon from the class with Volteer, right?"

Trax nodded. At least Spyro remembered him. "That's me. I am surprised that you remember me given that I didn't stand out that much."

The dragon shrugged. "I have a fairly good memory. So," Spyro walked over to him, "Why are you here?" He then smirked. "Are you stalking me?"

"No! Of course not! I happened to pass by and saw you training." The dragon let out a sigh. "How do you do it, Spyro?"

"Do what, Trax?"

"Do the things; all the things really." Spyro gave him a puzzled look, prompting him to continue, "How are you so good?"

"I…" Spyro scratched his chin. How was he supposed to answer that question? "I don't know. I train I guess?"

"But that's what I do! And yet…" Trax looked down. "You saw what happened earlier today, right?"

Spyro nodded. "You passed."

"Barely!" Trax frowned. "I want to be as good as you, Spyro. But I can't seem to do it."

"Why, Trax?" Spyro asked curiously.

"Because…" The dragon turned to face him with a determined expression on his face. "I want to be a Guardian."

"Well at least you have a dream."

"It's a dream that no matter how hard I want, I can never seem to achieve. That's just how it always is, with everything that I want to do."

"What makes you say that?"

"Aurora, Steppe and even Shaylus; my friends don't think I can pull it off, and I'm beginning to see why. I'm horrible, Spyro!"

The dragon let out a light chuckle. He could somehow relate. "Trax, I felt the same way too. I could feel a lot of dragons didn't believe in me. Heck, even I sometimes doubted myself in doing what I did, but I managed to do it."

"Do what?"

"Save the world."

The dragon blinked. It never crossed him to look at it like that. Trax looked at the purple dragon as if seeing him in a new light. "It did?"

Spyro nodded. "It was hard." He laughed lightly. "It was dangerous. But Cynder and I pulled it off because we both wanted it to end. And here we are now." The purple dragon looked at electric dragon and could see his words beginning to sink into him. "What I am trying to say is: you shouldn't let other dragons take you down. If you really want it, then you'll find a way to get it at some point."

"I…I see."

"Have you tried talking to Volteer about this? Ask him if he's interested in taking an apprentice?"

"I have."

"How'd it go?"

Trax sighed and began retelling him what had happened earlier.

* * *

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	12. Chapter 12 Mentor Talk

**Disclaimer: I own nothing except my characters and the story itself. Other canon characters are owned by their respective companies.**

**Exclaimer: To people who don't like the story, just don't read it.**

* * *

Chapter 12

Mentor Talk

Volteer sat at his pile of cushions in the Guardians' Room. He had just finished reading some scrolls he had and was looking forward for some well-deserved rest. Teaching young dragons the necessary lessons were always a tiring endeavor. He let out a yawn as he rested his head on the comfortable pillow. A nice nap was the main thing he wanted to do at the moment. But it had to wait, as a knock came from the door.

"Yes?" he answered, sitting upright. "What is it?"

The door opened and the dragon's brow rose. "Good afternoon, Master Volteer," said the dragon as he entered.

"Likewise; what is it that you need young dragon?"

"Master Volteer," the dragon looked determined, "would you please teach me that technique from earlier?"

Volteer's attention was hooked. "What is your name, young dragon?"

"Trax."

It took a moment for the Guardian to realize who he was but when it clicked he let out a sigh. "You're the dragon earlier from class, correct?"

"I am."

"And that technique you're referring to, what was it exactly?"

"It was the one that Zaze did! The one where it allowed him to move fast! Can you please teach that to me?"

Volteer thought back to the moment.

0 = 0 = 0

"Why would I even want to hurt you?" he asked rhetorically. "If I did however," Volteer—who had been idly listening in on the conversation—wondered where Zaze was going with this. In a blink of an eye, Zaze disappeared in front of them, shocking Trax.

"Whoa! Where'd he go!?"

"It would be so easy."

Trax jumped, surprised to find Zaze standing right beside him all of a sudden. "Wait—but you were—huh?"

"Zaze," Volteer said, looking at him. "You're scaring him."

"Okay, okay, I'll back off," Zaze said walking on front of them again.

"How did you do that!?" Trax asked enthusiastically. He then turned to face Volteer and blurted out, "Will you teach us how to do that?"

"Maybe, Trax, maybe; but right now, we need to focus back on class."

"Aww…"

0 = 0 = 0

He could actually teach that technique to Trax, but the level of difficulty was way too high for him at the current moment. "I'm sorry, young dragon, but I can't."

Trax looked visibly disappointed. "What? But why?"

Volteer tried to choose the best words to use. "For a simpler explanation, it's a technique too difficult for you to even try."

"B-but Zaze! He managed to do it!"

"Zaze…is a different case." Volteer didn't want to open a rather touchy subject. It was hard enough to explain to everyone that Zaze is technically Malefor. It was even harder to explain to everyone that Malefor wasn't actually Malefor but it was Maffrin. "Not because he's a purple dragon, mind you."

"Then what then?" Trax asked, sounding a little desperate. "What makes him special?"

"It's not what makes him special, Trax. It's because of who he is."

"But you said it's not because he's a purple dragon."

"Yes, I did." Volteer glanced at the dragon. "That technique you saw Zaze did, for a simpler choice of words, he made that technique."

Trax blinked, hearing the statement. "H-he made that?"

The Guardian nodded. "He did, Trax. That technique he demonstrated in front of you, Zaze made that. And that is why that technique is too hard for you to do. Heck, it's even difficult for me to do." Volteer noted how down Trax became. "I hope you understand."

The dragon let out a dejected sigh and nodded his head. "Thanks for telling me, Master Volteer."

But Volteer felt that this discussion was far from over. "Trax."

"Yes?"

"You're awfully interested in learning this technique. May I ask why?"

The dragon shrugged. "I just wanted to, you know, learn something cool I guess…"

Volteer's brow rose. He could feel that the dragon was evading the topic. He decided to prod further. "To be honest, I could probably teach you something cool that would wow your friends that are easy to do. But I feel like there's more to this."

Trax remained silent, not looking at him and this confirmed the dragon's suspicions.

"But if you don't want to tell me—"

"I want to be your apprentice."

Volteer stopped in his train of thought, surprised at the sudden statement. "Sorry?"

Trax faced him, a look of determination on his face. "I want to be your apprentice, Master Volteer."

So that was it.

Volteer eyed the dragon, sitting up straight. "You want to become a Guardian?"

"I do!" the dragon replied enthusiastically. "I read and study my lessons every day. I practice my element whenever I have the chance. And I'm willing to learn the hardest technique there is, just to prove that I can be one."

"You do understand that becoming a Guardian is a very hard endeavor and it is not a decision to be made lightly?"

"I do, Master Volteer. I've known for a long time."

The Electric Guardian scratched his chin. He already had a choice. But he needed to give the dragon a fair chance, as with all things. "Very well, I shall look into your performances more. In the meantime all I can say is this…"

0

"That I should do my best with everything I do."

Spyro nodded. Trax had just finished telling him the story of how his conversation with Volteer went. "Well, that is sound advice."

"But I don't stand a chance!" The dragon's shoulders drooped. "I don't know anything!"

"But didn't you say you read and practice your lessons?"

"I do, but come on, those are nothing. I need to stand out or else Volteer won't choose me."

"Fair enough; but I have a question for you, Trax."

"What is it, Spyro?"

"Why?"

"Huh?  
Spyro looked at him seriously. "Why do it? What's your motivation?"

Trax blinked, and then smiled at him. "My motivation? It's simple really. I just want to be proud of something."

Now it was Spyro's turn to be confused. "What?"

"I know, I know, it sounds stupid," Trax said waving a paw dismissively. "But that's the truth. I just want to achieve something I could be proud of. Like you for example."

"Me?"

"You're the legendary purple dragon, Spyro. You saved the world from the paws of the Dark Master. I want to be able to do something like that. Not literally, of course, but you get what I mean, right?"

"I think I do," Spyro said, now finally understanding what Trax was trying to say. "You want to be able to achieve something that no one else could; something unique. You want to do something that'll make you stand out and have dragons respect you for. Am I right?"

Trax smiled. "Exactly! All my life, I've never been able to be proud of something. There's always someone out there better than me! For once, I just want the world to cut me some slack. I want to be the center of attention."

Spyro patted the dragon on the back. "That's just the thing, Trax, the world won't."

The dragon turned his head. "It won't?"

"Just because you want it to, doesn't mean it would." The dragon chuckled. "That would be too easy. You have to work hard for it. You have to earn it, like all things."

The yellow dragon sighed dejectedly. "If you put it like that, I feel like I won't reach my dreams at all."

"That's just how it is. How else did you think me and Cynder stopped Malefor back when he was wreaking havoc? We wanted to stop him. But wanting won't get you anywhere. You'd have to put in the work needed."

"How, Spyro?" Trax scratched his head. Their conversation went full circle now. "How would I do it?"

"If you really want to become a Guardian, then it's simple: you train. What's the strongest elemental attack you know?"

"Uh…" Trax then mumbled something.

"What was that?" Spyro leaned in to hear him clearly. "I didn't catch that."

Trax sighed, completely embarrassed at what he was going to say. But it was best to come clean. "A lightning bolt…"

Spyro's brows furrowed. "A lightning bolt?" He cocked his head to the side. After seeing Zaze move at blindingly fast speeds, seeing Phase make a duplicate of himself with his ice element, watching Crombe practically pummel a behemoth singlehandedly, Spyro had to admit, his expectations were raised a bit too high. He forgot who he was talking to. "Can you show me?"

For a brief moment, a look of worry flashed across Trax's face. But it was then replaced with a calm expression. "Um…okay."

A training dummy appeared at the center of the Training Dojo as Trax prepared himself for his demonstration.

"I want you to hit the dummy as strong as you can," Spyro said, watching intently. Depending on how Trax performed, he could gauge how much work was needed to make him stronger.

Trax nodded and took a deep breath. "Alright, just do it. Don't imagine, Spyro looking at you. Just do it, Trax…" He closed his eyes and began channeling his element. It was him and just the dummy. And that dummy was going down. Before long, the air around them crackled as electricity fizzled and gathered around Trax. In one strong push, he sent out a bolt of lightning that struck the dummy head on.

Spyro watched carefully as the straw burned under the sudden attack. But was surprised when it stopped, leaving only a black burnt spot in the process. He was expecting to see Trax cut the dummy in half, but only succeeded halfway. "Trax? Why'd you stop?" He glanced to his right and saw that the dragon was panting, and looked like he was out of breath.

"So…" He panted, trying to catch his breath. "How'd I do?"

The purple dragon blinked. "Um…" He glanced back to Trax's work. "Not bad; can you make it stronger?"

"Do what stronger?"

"The bolt; can you make it hit harder?"

Trax visibly flinched. "I-uh, um…"

"Are you tired already?" Spyro asked, even though it was painfully obvious.

But the dragon's pride was on the line. He wasn't going to look weak in front of the legendary purple dragon. "No! Of course not!" Trax lied through his teeth. That bolt took everything he had. "I just need a second to catch my breath."

Spyro walked over to him. "Trax, you don't have to look strong in front of me. If you're tired, just tell me, and I won't think any less of you."

The dragon stared at him, before practically falling flat on the floor. "That was…tiring…"

"Uh huh." Spyro looked down at him.

"If you want to laugh, laugh. That's the best I got, Spyro."

"I'm not laughing," he replied solemnly. "Though I will have to say this: you need a lot of work."

Trax rolled his eyes and sighed in frustration. "This is hopeless."

"Well no, I think I know what you need."

"What?"

"You need a mentor."

The dragon sat up. "A mentor?"

"Yeah, someone that can teach you stuff and help you improve more."

"Well, who would you suggest?" Trax asked. He then looked at the purple dragon sincerely. "Can you be my mentor?"

Spyro shook his head. "I'm sorry, Trax. I'm not really all that good with my electricity techniques. I'm more in tune with my fire."

"Then who then? I can't ask Volteer. He's the one I'm trying to impress in the first place!" Trax scratched his chin. "Do you know someone else?"

That was a simple question that was very easy to answer. "There is someone that I know that is amazing with his electricity element."

"Who?"

"You've met him already."

"Huh?" Trax was confused. Who on earth could it possibly be?

Spyro smirked. "It's Zaze."

* * *

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	13. Chapter 13 Developments

**Disclaimer: I own nothing except my characters and the story itself. Other canon characters are owned by their respective companies.**

**Exclaimer: To people who don't like the story, just don't read it.**

* * *

Chapter 13

Developments

Terrador stood at the balcony of his room alone. He was looking at the stars, admiring how they twinkled against the black backdrop alongside the bright moon that illuminated the night. He was a little anxious. He was wondering what he and Decibele were going to talk about. He had to admit. He was taken a bit surprised at how fast things went now between them; especially with the way she talked to him earlier. He shook his head. His heart was beating in anticipating. He was acting like a young dragon in love. Well, in a way, he was. He nearly jumped when he heard the door open behind him.

"Bele?"

"Oh, Terry." The electric dragoness smiled. "I didn't expect to see you here. I would have thought you'd be working late again."

The Earth Guardian shook his head and nuzzled the dragoness. "No. You said you wanted to talk to me, so I had to finish up early."

"I see." She stood next to him and the two stared at the night sky. "So I'm guessing you have questions?"

Terrador nodded. "I do. Did you mean it?"

She turned her head to face his. "That I love you? Of course, I do."

The dragon looked like he was at a loss for words. "I, uh…I…don't know what to say."

"You don't have to say anything, Terry." She then leaned her to head to kiss him on the lips. Terrador blinked, surprised at the action, but nonetheless welcomed it. They broke a few a minutes later, and Decibele rested her head under his chin, feeling comforted at hearing his heartbeat.

"I love you."

"I love you too, Bele. I wish…I had known sooner."

The dragoness shook her head. "It doesn't matter what happened back then. What matters is what happens now." She moved closer to him and leaned on his shoulder. She felt comforted standing close to him. She felt safe. That was when she decided to bring up a question she had been meaning to ask. "Terry, can I ask you a question?" Decibele asked.

"What is it?"

She faced him and looked him in the eye. "Can we be mates?"

Terrador blinked, and saw the seriousness in her eyes. He smiled, and gave her a peck at the lips. "Of course, Bele. I wouldn't want anyone else."

"I'm glad," she replied, nuzzling his chest. She then let out a yawn, as she rubbed her eyes.

"Maybe we should head to bed, it's getting late."

The Earth Guardian smirked. "Is that a come-on?"

Decibele looked at Terrador with a genuine expression of surprise. That was when she realized what she had basically implied in her statement, making her blush. "I-uh, no, I was…"

The dragon just chuckled. "You look cute when you're flustered. And I was just kidding."

"Oh you!" The dragoness playfully pushed the earth dragon for teasing him.

"Even so, I…" Terrador's expression turned serious. "I still have to think about that."

"About what?"

"The two of us having hatchlings."

"Terrador…" Decibele placed a paw on his shoulder. "We can take this slow."

The dragon smiled. "I would like that."

0

"I cannot believe that actually happened."

"I know." The dragoness shook her happened. "I just let it go. I mean, I didn't dodge the fireball fast enough. I need to improve more, Cynder."

"I'm game to help you whenever you are." The black dragoness lay on her cushions and relaxed. Ember was right across from her, telling her how her day went.

"I'm glad you two ladies are having such a swell time." Both of the dragons turned their heads to glance at the glowing dragonfly.

"Sparx, what are you doing here?" Ember curiously asked.

The dragonfly sat on the cushions. "I got lonely. Spyro isn't back in his room yet."

"What?" Cynder glanced outside through the window and saw the moon was already there. "This late at night?"

"Yeah, I know. It's weird. This is usually when we hang around and basically talk to each other."

The pink dragoness let out a light chuckle. "Talk to each other? You mean snore, right?"

Sparx gave her a flat stare. "Ha ha, we talk too you know."

"Joking aside, I wonder what Spyro is doing." Cynder placed her paw on her chin and idly tapped.

"Maybe he's at the dojo or something." Ember shrugged. "But enough about that, I want to talk to you about Spyro."

Cynder's brow rose. "What about us?"

"How are you two?"

The dragonfly groaned. "Oh my goodness, please, are we really going to have this discussion?"

Now it was the two dragonesses turn to give him a flat stare. "Sparx, you can leave if you want," Cynder said.

He just ended up shaking his head. "Fine, I'll deal with the mushy stuff. I get lonely when I'm alone."

Ember chuckled and faced Cynder. "So?"

"We're fine I guess; same old, same old. Though, I think Spyro is trying his best to start learning new stuff again. He's been reading a lot."

"Kind of like, Crombe huh?"

Cynder nodded. "What about you and Flame?"

The dragoness rolled his eyes. "Oh, he's still the same old charmer, joking around and whatnot."

"How's his math, though?" Sparx asked with a grin.

Ember chuckled. "Good enough. He's still learning."

"At least you two are having fun together, right?" Cynder asked.

"We get to spend time together more, which is nice. And that reminds me, did you hear what happened?"

Cynder and Sparx looked genuinely curious. Sparx then asked, "About what?"

Ember smiled. "Zaze!"

"What about Zaze?"

"He's talking again. And he actually smiled earlier!"

Cynder looked surprised. "Are you serious?"

The dragoness nodded her head. "I am. I was actually surprised. I can't believe Zaze is smiling again. Did any of you talk to him?"

Sparx shook his head. "I've been trying my best to talk to the guy. I wonder who did."

"Well, Flame told me."

"Who was it?"

"It was a dragoness named Frei."

Cynder was surprised. Sparx looked genuinely shocked. "A dragoness!?" he exclaimed. "Have we met her before?"

"She doesn't seem familiar," Cynder said, trying to remember someone named like that.

"I think she was a newcomer," Ember added.

"Still…" Sparx smiled. "If she managed to knock the depression out of Zaze, she must be good."

"Well, I'm happy. It sucks to see Zaze be depressed and stuff. It's just not like him. I felt even worse when I couldn't do anything to help." Cynder shook her head, looking at the cushions.

"Agreed." Ember let out a yawn, lying on the cushions.

"Well, I guess you two are turning in for the night. I'll be leaving then." Sparx then headed to the window, heading back to their room. "Goodnight."

"Goodnight Sparx."

0

The two ice dragons sat in the Dining Hall, having a quiet leisure time with one another. Manuel and Draiana sat across from each other, eating their dinner. "So have you done the homework Master Cyril has given us?"

"For Elemental Training?" The dragoness groaned. "Oh, that is a big pain in the ass. How on earth are we supposed to study for that? It's like due in what, two days from now?"

Manuel nodded. "It sucks. I'm still working on my Ice Shots and I'm still trying to get the hang of it. You have to focus properly or else the ice won't form correctly."

"At least you got the other stuff down. I still need to work on the rest."

Almost in unison, the two ice dragons groaned not looking forward to the training they still had to go through. It was tough work. But it was needed if they ever wanted to get the hang of their elements. Manuel cocked his head to the side, thinking to himself. Draiana noticed and asked, "What is it?"

"You know, I wonder: do you think Zaze and the others ever have this problem?"

"What problem?"

"Mastering their element; or at the very least, learning new stuff. They make most of the stuff we do look so easy. It's like they're cheating!"

Draiana shrugged. "Maybe it's because they're just talented."

"And we're not?"

"I didn't mean it like that." Manuel looked at her, prompting her to explain. "I meant maybe it's just easier for some dragons to pick up stuff than others. Look at Spyro, he's still learning some new stuff right? Even though he's a purple dragon, he's still with us." She crossed her arms across her chest. "Maybe using Zaze as an example is not exactly the right choice."

"Yeah…because he was like the Dark Master before, right?"

The dragoness let out a light laugh. "I find it weird to say that I am friends with the Dark Master."

"You are?"

The two ice dragons turned their heads to find an earth dragon and an ice dragoness standing near them. The earth dragon had a look of surprise on his face whilst the dragoness was just looking at her companion.

"We are," Manuel answered. "Uh, who are you?"

The earth dragon smiled sheepishly. "Sorry, didn't mean to eavesdrop. I'm Steppe; nice to meet you!"

"Manuel."

"Draiana." She raised her brow and noted that the dragoness remained silent. "Who's your friend?"

Steppe chuckled. "That's Aurora. She has anger issues with Zaze."

"I do not!" she spat out. She then regained her composure. "I just…don't like him."

"What's not to like about Zaze?" Manuel asked. "He's nice. He's friendly. He's awesome!"

"That's because you're friends with him," Aurora replied. "I still see him as someone dangerous and shouldn't be here with us."

Steppe shook his head. "Like I said, she has anger issues." He then turned his attention to the two dragons. "Still, how did you become friends with someone like Zaze? He seems…" The earth dragon decided to choose the best word. "He seems reclusive."

Manuel smiled. "He seems like it, but back then, he wasn't."

"I find it hard to imagine," Aurora said.

"Well, believe it or not, he was a talkative dragon back then when I first met him." Manuel thought back at that moment in time when he and Alyssa arrived at the temple.

0 = 0 = 0

"Excuse me," he said.

"Yes?" The dragoness turned around.

"Are you Alyssa, by any chance?" Cyril asked. She smiled.

"Yes, I am. Who might you be?"

Zaze then noticed that he slightly puffed his chest out as he responded. "Cyril, the Ice Guardian."

"And I am Zaze. Zaze the dragon."

"The name is Alyssa. And this is my brother, Manuel," she said, referring to the ice dragon beside him.

"Nice to meet you," he replied, smiling at Zaze. Manuel smiled back.

"Well, Alyssa, it has come to our attention that we are in need of a healer in this Temple. Pyre has informed that you have the skills. Are you interested?"

She smiled. "Yes, I am."

"Great! I shall brief you officially later."

"I am happy to be of service. And Cyril?"

"Yes?" Cyril turned to face her.

0 = 0 = 0

And that memory was soon followed by Cyril getting smacked to the ground by her sister. Manuel shook the thought away. The point was, Zaze was different back then. "He was friendly," he continued. "He was the one that came and talked to me. It was easy becoming friends with him."

"But how do you approach someone so…imposing?" Steppe asked.

Draiana shrugged. "Just talk to them, I suppose. We're all the same really. We deal with our own problems just like everyone else."

Manuel nodded and then added, "She's right. When I first met Cynder, I was scared too."

0 = 0 = 0

"Hello," she greeted.

The dragon turned around, and blinked, seeing her. She was used to that by now. That was the common expression dragons gave her, when they see her for the first time; her title, being the ex-Terror of the Skies and all.

"H-hello," he greeted back. Stuttering was also a common thing.

"It seems I haven't seen you before. Who are you?"

The dragon quickly gulped his food down before answering her. "The name's Manuel. I'm one of the dragons that Pyre brought back. You must be Cynder right?"

The gears inside Cynder's head turned quickly, processing the information. Pyre; Pyre was the dragon responsible for bringing the dragons back here at the Temple. He was also Flame's father. He also left awhile ago to bring back the second batch of dragons back to the Temple. So Manuel being here probably meant he just got back. She smirked to herself. Zaze wasn't the only smart dragon around.

"I am. Nice to meet you Manuel," she replied.  
"The pleasure is mine. I never knew I would meet you face to face."

"And you're not scared of me?" she asked.

"Hones tly?" Manuel smiled sheepishly. "A bit."

"Well, that's a given." Cynder smiled. "Don't worry I don't bite."

0 = 0 = 0

"But once you get past that, it's easy." Manuel looked at Aurora who was looking at him skeptically. "You just have to trust them."

The dragoness shook her head. "I still find it hard to believe that, especially after everything he's done." The dragoness sighed and started walking away. "I'm heading off to sleep."

The three dragons watched as the ice dragoness walked away. Steppe, Aurora, Trax and Shaylus were good friends and didn't keep secrets from one another. But this…this hatred she had for Zaze. It left Steppe completely clueless. He felt like something deep was there that she was dealing with.

It left him wondering what her real problem was with the purple dragon.

* * *

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	14. Chapter 14 Returning the Favor

**Disclaimer: I own nothing except my characters and the story itself. Other canon characters are owned by their respective companies.**

**Exclaimer: To people who don't like the story, just don't read it.**

* * *

Chapter 14

Returning the Favor

The night was young as the Electric Guardian, Volteer sat at one of his cushions in his room. He let out a light yawn as he basically checked off the stack of homework he had gotten for the day. He stifled a scowl as some were just downright bad, whilst he smiled and nodded, happy to see that some of his students got it correctly. One by one, the papers were slowly filed away, and before he knew it, Volteer had finished all of them. He stretched his back feeling tired. He wanted to get to sleep. The dragon stood up and began cleaning up and putting away the scrolls when he heard a knock on the door.

His brows rose, as he wondered who would come see him so late at night. Was it a fellow Guardian? "Come in."

The door swung open and a familiar purple dragon entered into the fray. "Hey, Volteer." He smiled at the dragon.

"Zaze? What brings you here in this late hour?" His eyes darted to the window, confirming that it was truly late. The moon was already nearing the middle of its rotation. "You should be asleep, young dragon."

Zaze shook his head, looking down the floor. "I know…I just wanted to talk to someone. I did tell you about this earlier."

Volteer blinked as he tried to remember what was Zaze referring to. He racked his mind and eventually found the memory. He did tell him about this earlier. When they were at the Training Dojo, he mentioned him wanting to talk in private. "Oh, I see." He then realized how important this must be for Zaze. The dragon was finally beginning to open up again. "I take it, you are feeling much better?"

Zaze nodded. "I do actually; someone made me realize that I should just learn to let go."

"Who is this dragon?"

"Dragoness, actually."

Now this caught Volteer's attention. He was expecting it to be someone like Flame or even Spyro, but it was someone different. "And this is?"

"Frei. Her name's Frei."

"Oh!" Volteer smiled. "I see you've met the daughter of Terrador's close friends then."

"Daughter?" Zaze asked, sounding confused.

"Frei is Nox and Glacelynn's daughter, Zaze. They came by earlier to check on Terrador. He told me himself."

Zaze smiled. Those were the very same dragons that Terrador had issues with before. He was glad that he finally repaired that broken bridge. That was when it clicked for him.

0 = 0 = 0

"There's no point in sticking in the past. What happened has happened. You can't change that."

Zaze's perked up at hearing the statement. "That is true." A smirk crept across his maw, as he relayed the words again in his head. It felt like he was hearing his own advice. "Did you by any chance here that from someone in particular, Frei?"

"My Dad," she answered. "He always told me how he himself made mistakes in the past. But then he realized no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't change them anymore. He had to live with the consequences of his actions." Frei sat up and turned her head to face the dragon. "I guess it just kind of stuck with me."

0 = 0 = 0

Her dad was actually Nox and it made sense. Nox, due to some misunderstandings and miscommunications, destroyed the tight friendship he shared with Terrador. At least now, it was repaired.

"But I see you're talking now Zaze. That's good. Talking always helps. What did you want to talk about?"

"I wanted to ask for your advice on how I deal with someone's death."

Volteer perked up. He immediately knew who he was referring to. "You mean, Latis' death?"

The dragon nodded solemnly.

Volteer smiled warmly and motioned for the purple dragon to sit next to him on the cushions. Zaze obediently followed, sitting next to the Electric Guardian. "Well Zaze, first of all you do not deal with it. You live with it. We can never forget the dragons that are important to us. We need to keep them alive in our hearts."

"I get nightmares from time to time. I just wish I had enough control on myself." Zaze shivered, looking at his paws. The very same paws that ended up killing the one close friend he had.

"No one is blaming you, Zaze. And you shouldn't blame yourself either." The Electric Guardian placed a comforting paw on his shoulder. "If anything, you should blame Phase for what he did. You and he are not the same. You must remember this."

"Are we, Volteer? Are we any different?"

The Electric Guardian looked at him seriously. "You are different, Zaze. You are not him, and never will be."

"But it's because of him I became Malefor. It's because of him that I ended up becoming…Zaze. I should be the same age as you, and be called Maffrin."

Volteer chuckled. "Personally, you should think of it as a blessing in disguise. Being old is not as good as you may think, Zaze."

"You're not that old, Volteer." Zaze grinned. "I mean, if you can still get Flare to sleep with you then you must still have your charms."

"Well…" Volteer puffed out his chest proudly. "That is true."

"Don't let it go to your head."

He smiled at the young dragon. "Joking aside, Zaze you must understand. You were Malefor. And you were Maffrin. But now, you are Zaze. The electric dragon turned purple that everyone knows. What happened has happened. You can't change that."

Zaze nodded understanding the truth behind the Guardian's words. There was nothing he could do anymore except move on. There was no use sticking and moping around. He had to let it go and be done with it.

"Think of the things about to come, Zaze. Think about your friends, even your future."

"My future?"

"What do you plan to do once you are done studying? Are you going to live a life with someone you love?"

"Someone I love?" Zaze scowled. "You know I don't roll that way, right?"

"Funny. Someone who enjoys matching dragons up doesn't want to be matched with someone as well."

Zaze shrugged. "I…I don't know. It's not like anyone likes me now at the moment," he then lowered his voice and spoke softly, "someone used to though."

"Are you sure?" Volteer said, looking at him seriously. "You're a very charming young dragon, Zaze. I find it hard to believe that no one is actively seeking you out at any given moment."

The dragon glanced at him flatly, and looked at his scales. "I think the fact that I have purple scales," he then grabbed his horns which were curved outward prominently, "and that I look like a younger version of Malefor doesn't really help."

"More like purple that shifts to yellow at some parts."

Zaze gave him another flat stare.

"Alright, majority of your scales are purple. But that doesn't mean you don't have a chance."

The dragon scoffed. "Volteer, dragons are scared to go near me."

"But Frei wasn't."

"I think she was a special case."

"How about Spyro? Dragons aren't all that scared of him anymore."

Zaze sighed. "I don't think that's fair. Dragons see Spyro as a hero. Me, well…they see me as Malefor incarnate."

"You both are heroes, Zaze."

"I wish they could see that."

"Why don't you try talking to them? The fact that you've been reclusive for the past few days doesn't exactly help your image."

"Alright, fair enough; I'll try and mingle with them. Though, I may not be as successful, seeing as that my charms only work when I'm trying to pair someone up."

"Who knows, maybe someone is working in the background trying to pair you up."

Zaze chuckled, imagining Flame doing his work. He did mention rather enthusiastically earlier that he was going to 'return the favor'. "I don't think anyone can do a better job than me."

"Maybe I'll even help." Zaze looked aghast at the thought. "I think it's high time I returned the favor. And you need someone, Zaze."

"I don't need someone, Volteer. I'm fine by myself."

"Are you?" he asked. "I don't think that's the case."

"What makes you say that?"

"Think back then. Who was the dragon that was roughly always with you? If other dragons had seen you, it would have looked like you two had a relationship."

"Are you referring to Latis?"

"I am, Zaze. My point is you're always with someone. And you can't really handle being alone as you claim. If you were, you wouldn't be so affected by Latis' death. You lost someone you truly cared for. Even though it may not have been romantic, you always wanted her to be by your side. And when she was gone, it felt like something was missing. Am I right?"

Zaze looked down the cushions and let Volteer's words sink in. He thought hard and remembered all the memories he had before. It was true. Majority of the time he was with Latis. He even slept in her bed because he had carried her back to her room when she had fallen asleep, completely drunk. And now that she was gone, something really was missing. No one was there to keep him company. He sighed. "You're right."

Volteer patted him on the head. "Don't worry, Zaze. Someone will come around eventually. Who knows, maybe it'll be the one."

"The one I fall in love with?"

Volteer nodded.

Zaze shrugged. "I'm not sure about that one though. I don't see myself being with someone. I think that's the last thing on my mind."

The dragon smirked. "Well, that's what they all say. And then once you get smitten with someone, they'll be the only thing on your mind."

Zaze chuckled. "I like to see that happen." The dragon then let out a yawn.

"I think you should get some rest now, Zaze. It's really getting late."

The dragon stood up and started heading out the door. "Goodnight, Volteer. Thanks for talking with me."

"You're welcome, Zaze; and goodnight."

The Electric Guardian watched as the purple dragon left. He let out a light yawn as he too needed some sleep. It was getting late at night. But as Volteer headed to his room, his mind wandered, thinking of his conversation with Zaze. It was true. Zaze needed someone; the young dragon seemed too lonely for his own good. He wondered if he could do something about it.

He shook his head.

He just had to think about it tomorrow. Right now, he just wanted to get some sleep. The Electric Guardian entered his private quarters to find someone already sleeping in his cushions, rather peacefully at that. Volteer let out a contented sigh as he joined his mate, Flare, the Fire Guardian in bed. The dragoness instinctively coiled herself around him as he lied down, enjoying the warmth he brought with him. The fellow guardian had decided to turn in early for the night, seeing as she had a rather tiring day. Volteer stayed up late since he needed to check the works of his students.

He had to admit. Without Zaze, he and Flare would never have happened. He owed it to the young electric dragon to finding love again. He felt obligated to return the favor. And that he will. All that Volteer had to do was find someone in particular; someone that can get along with Zaze; someone that could look past his somewhat…special appearance.

But the question was who.

Volteer himself didn't know, but he intended to find out.

* * *

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	15. Chapter 15 Past and Future

**Disclaimer: I own nothing except my characters and the story itself. Other canon characters are owned by their respective companies.**

**Exclaimer: To people who don't like the story, just don't read it.**

* * *

Chapter 15

Past and Future

Flame lied down his cushions, staring out the window. The night was relatively young and he was bored out of his mind, not to mention completely tired. He had been studying earlier as much as he could, evident with all the rolls of scrolls and a few scattered tomes here and there that surrounded his pile of red cushions. The fire dragon sighed. What changed in his life that ended up having him stay cooped up in his room so early in the night? He should have been out with his friends, having a blast. But here he was, studying until his brain rejected to put anything anymore since he had tuckered himself out completely. Lately his grades had been slipping and he needed to focus to get them back into gear. Elemental wise however, he was still topnotch. Well, as topnotch one can be when you have Spyro and Zaze in the same class. He couldn't beat those two even if he did try. They were just on a whole different level. He rolled to his side and glanced at the pile of green cushions across from him. That was Crombe's pile. Where on earth was the green dragon? Crombe wasn't the type to stay late hanging out with friends, and that was a fact. The dragon usually was the first one to be in their room, and by then he was cooped up in the corner, reading a book or reading a scroll, and at one point, both at the same time.

As if to answer his question, the door gently swung open and in came in the green dragon that was on his mind.

"Oh, you're here." Crombe's usual flat tone greeted him. Flame wondered if the earth dragon ever showed emotion. He couldn't remember at time he ever did.

The fire dragon eyed his roommate as he entered the fray, carrying a pile of scrolls and tomes on the bag that was slung across his back. "You were at the library again?" he asked.

Crombe placed the pile on his cushions and began spreading them out. "I was," he answered, not looking at him. "What are you doing here so early?"

"I had to study. I'm not as smart as you are." Flame proceeded to flop on his bed and relax.

The earth dragon glanced at him at the corner of his eye. Throughout the entire afternoon, Crombe couldn't get his mind off of what had happened earlier. His agreement on 'teaching' Steppe had taken center stage. What did he get himself into? He wasn't a teacher. All the skills he learned were all self-taught. They didn't come from a textbook. Everything he knew, he just picked it up and made it his own. His own unique style, as one could refer to it. How on earth was he going to pass it down to someone else?

"Flame?"

The fire dragon perked up. "Yeah?"

"Can I ask you a question?"

"What is it?"

"What would you do if someone asked something from you that you're not sure you could do?"

"Uh…" Flame sat upright and turned to Crombe. "Where did that come from?"

The earth dragon sighed. "It's just something stupid." He was really beginning to regret ever saying yes. "There was this dragon I ended up helping and afterwards he practically begged me to tutor him."

Flame blinked. Crombe and helping, as far as Flame knew, did not belong in the same sentence. "Are you joking or something?"

The dragon glared at him. "Do I look like I'm joking?"

He raised his paws in defense. "Okay, okay, no need to get angry." Flame scratched his chin. "Can you tell me what exactly happened?"

Crombe then proceeded to retell what had happened earlier that day. How he fought off Vein who was basically trying to bully Steppe with his lackeys. Flame listened intently knowing full well how it ended.

"Knowing you, they never stood a chance did they?" he asked, after Crombe finished his story.

Crombe smirked. "Of course they didn't. I've fought against Phase and lived. I think I can handle a few hormone filled males."

"I think I can understand why Steppe would want to learn from you. You're awesome!"

"Am I? All I did was just do what an earth dragon would normally do."

"You did. But you forget that we're not as good as you are. Most of the stuff I know are nothing compared to what you can do right off the bat."

"Really?" Crombe eyed Flame. "What can you do?"

Flame stared at him flatly. "Are you insulting me, Crombe?"

The dragon shook his head. "No! I'm curious. What can you do, Flame?"

Flame looked at Crombe warily before proceeding to answer. "Simple stuff really. Fireballs, uh…flamethrowers…what else can I do…?" The dragon scratched his chin and thought of the other stuff he could. He tried to think of cool stuff that would impress the dragon but he couldn't think of anything in particular, except for one thing.

"Anything else?"

"Well there was this one time where I was able to channel my fire element into my paws."

0 = 0 = 0

Flame immediately focused all of his powers to his paws. With a gentle tap on the floor, all of his four paws sparked. To Zaze's surprise, Flame's paws were literally, on fire. This, Zaze didn't expect. Flame flashed him a smug smirk. Using the momentary surprise, Flame charged right at him, his paws leaving a trail off small fires in its wake. He lunged at him with his claws, but missed him, barely. Zaze sidestepped to the right, though he was clearly met with a swipe of Flame's tail. It smacked him at his side, taking his defense down.

0 = 0 = 0

"You sparred with Zaze?" Crombe asked, looking surprised. "Who won?"

Flame cringed a little at the memory. He didn't exactly like what happened afterwards. "I won mainly because Zaze gave up."

"What? He gave up?" The notion of Zaze giving up seemed so foreign for Crombe. Then again, he was thinking about Zaze. That dragon was anything but normal. He found happiness in pairing dragons up. Who does that? "Why?"

"It's a long and…" Flame coughed. "It's a bit of an awkward story, in retrospect."

Crombe lied down his cushions and propped himself up with a paw. "I have all night."

Flame's eyes narrowed. "You're awfully feeling social today. Are you okay, Crombe?"

"Don't get used to it. I'm just curious to know what you guys have been up to before I met you. So you were saying?"

The dragon shrugged. "You know me and Ember, right? Well, at the time we weren't together and…"

Flame proceeded to retell how his relationship with Ember began. How he wanted to try and win her affection, against his rival, Zaze. In hindsight, he now realized that Zaze was never interested in Ember. He was interested in hooking the two of them up. And being his rival, managed to coax him out of his shell and in turn profess his feelings for the dragoness. He really was a matchmaker and he made it work. Crombe on the other hand just listened quietly and asked a question here and there. He always thought Zaze was weird, but now hearing Flame's story, his opinion didn't change. The electric dragon was weird now, and even before then.

"And that's how it was."

"You ended up together because of Zaze?"

The dragon nodded. "That's Zaze for you. Even if he doesn't have to, he goes the extra mile just to make sure you're going to be fine." Flame looked at Crombe. "You should be more like him Crombe. It'll do you good."

"Be like Zaze?" The earth dragon scoffed. "Can you imagine me being sprightly?"

For a brief moment, Flame did. And it made him chuckle. The image of Crombe being the source of happiness and joy just didn't seem to fit the rough and edgy personality he possessed. "No, I meant, being helpful; being social; like you are now with Steppe. I say, go teach him."

"Why should I?" Crombe asked flatly. "I taught myself and I turned out fine."

"It's because there's no else that'll help him."

"He can help himself."

"Look where that got him; being bullied by Vein and unable to defend himself."

"Too bad then; that's just how it is."

"You've got the power to change someone's life, Crombe. Don't you think you get some sense of responsibility in all of this?"

The dragon looked at Flame flatly. "I'm not obligated to do anything, aside from teaching him that one stupid wall technique."

"Alright then," Flame said, noting just how stubborn the dragon was. Maybe he could compromise. He knew deep down that Crombe needed this. The earth dragon needed someone he could talk to. "Why don't you just teach him the thing and be done with it?"

"That was the original plan. Why give up now?"

Flame chuckled. "You're too stubborn for your own good."

The dragon shrugged. "I guess you could say it's one of my traits. And Flame," the dragon glanced back at him, "Just to be clear, I'm not Zaze. I don't see everything as nice and vibrant. I see things for the way they are."

"I know that. But I also know one other thing."

Crombe's brow rose. "And that is?"

"Try as hard as you might, I know you're a good dragon, Crombe. I know you'll do the right thing."

Crombe stared at him, before shrugging and turning his back on the fire dragon. He lied down the cushions and closed his eyes. "I'm turning in for the night."

Flame glanced the dragon, nodding more to himself. He too lied down and closed his eyes, waiting for sleep to take him.

That was the end of that.

0

Day broke.

The purple dragon let out a tired groan as he rubbed his eyes, wanting to wipe the dust away. For once, he was actually grateful that he didn't have nightmares for a change. Usually he'd woke up, pieces of his cushion bed strewn about from his late night thrashings as his dreams took a turn for the worse. It always started cheery, and then…he shook his head. He shouldn't be thinking about that. He needed to stay positive. His late night talk with Volteer actually eased his mind well enough to stop him from having the troubling dreams. That was a start. And he hoped that was the beginning of the end for his problems.

A few minutes later, Zaze stood in front of his room, his bed neatly fixed in an orderly manner. The dragon didn't have a roommate for the most obvious reasons. No one wanted to be with him. And he couldn't blame them. Who would want to wake up in a room, to find a younger version of Malefor sleeping a few feet from you? Males weren't allowed to room with females unless it was Courtship Week so Cynder and Ember were out of the option. Flame was with Crombe and Spyro decided it was best to give him space. The other purple dragon was with his brother. And that left Zaze to be with himself.

The dragon just shrugged and headed outside, having a new outlook and perspective on things. He decided to take Volteer's words to heart and just let it go. No, he wasn't about to sing and go into a song number. But instead fully realized that what happened has happened, and he can't change that. It was just time for him to move on. Zaze smirked, as he headed down the halls of the temple. The last few words he had last night with Volteer had been on his mind. The idea of being with someone was nice, but being in love with them? Zaze wasn't sure himself if he even knew "how" to love someone. The idea of just romantically being involved with someone wasn't something he was excited to try. It was kind of hypocritical since he enjoyed pairing other dragons up. Zaze shook his head. Maybe it was the subconscious memories that Maffrin had of being rejected rather badly. That was the main event that practically triggered his downward spiral into becoming Malefor.

Whatever the case may be, Zaze just didn't see himself being someone wanted. He already had a rather…colorful history. If anything, he was undesirable.

"Good morning!" a voice chimed in from behind him as he entered the Dining Hall.

Zaze turned his head to find a familiar face. It was Latis.

Wait, what?

He blinked a few times, to which the dragoness giggled at. "Are you okay?"

"I, uh, I'm fine." He shook his head, his vision clearing. That wasn't Latis. "You're…Shaylus, right?"

"You remembered my name!" The dragoness smiled, completely happy. "And here I thought you wouldn't remember since we only talked briefly yesterday."

Zaze smiled back. Shaylus' happiness was contagious. "Your friend kind of dragged you off."

"She did. Have you eaten breakfast yet?"

"No. But I was about to."

"That's great! Let's eat together!"

Zaze was then proceeded to get dragged alongside Shaylus rather comically.

Maybe he wasn't all that undesirable.

* * *

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